Sanket S. Dhruva

Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, University of California, San Francisco

Papers

Total Citations

H-Index

About

Sanket S. Dhruva is a leading voice in health policy and medical device regulation, with a research focus on reducing medical overuse and improving the safety of high-tech surgical interventions. His landmark work, “2018 Update on Medical Overuse” (55 citations), systematically identifies and critiques unnecessary medical care, highlighting the dual harms of patient risk and escalating costs. This research has been instrumental in shaping conversations around value-based care and diagnostic stewardship. More recently, Dhruva has turned his attention to the regulatory pathways for robotic surgical systems. His paper, “A 510(k) ancestry of robotic surgical systems” (4 citations), provides a critical analysis of how devices like the Da Vinci system enter the market through the FDA’s 510(k) clearance process, often without rigorous clinical trials. By tracing the lineage of these technologies, he exposes potential gaps in premarket evaluation. Dhruva’s work is notable for bridging clinical medicine, health services research, and regulatory science, making him a key figure in efforts to ensure that innovation does not outpace patient safety.