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C. Daniel Smith, MD – Experienced LINX Surgeon

Dr. C. Daniel Smith is the most experienced LINX surgeon east of the Rockies.

  • Nearly 10 years of experience with use of LINX – his first LINX implant was in 2009
  • Implanted over 300 LINX devices in patients from all over the world
  • Widely published in the use and safety of LINX
  • Now using LINX with hiatal hernia repair and redo esophageal surgery

Dr. Smith was one of 14 investigators who were a part of the research required by the FDA before a new medical device can be used in the United States. This research was conducted from 2008-2009. After the initial group of patients underwent LINX implantation these investigators monitored patients for two years to prove the safety and success of the LINX device. In 2011 Dr. Smith presented all of the data from this research to the FDA panel who in early 2012 ultimately approved LINX for use in the United States. Over the next 5 years, Dr. Smith was the Chief Medical Officer (CMO) for Torax Medical, the company who developed the LINX device. As the Chief Medical Officer, Dr. Smith oversaw all of aspects of the use of the LINX device in clinical practice. This included:

  • Overseeing the development of guidelines for the safe and appropriate introduction of LINX to medical practice,
  • Developing guidelines for and overseeing the selection of surgeons qualified to perform LINX implantation,
  • Training and education programs for surgeons and gastroenterologists using LINX in the care of their GERD patients,
  • Clinical research and ongoing monitoring of the safety and outcomes of the LINX procedure

In 2017 when the Torax company was acquired by Johnson & Johnson Dr. Smith stepped down as CMO and assumed the role of Chair of J&J’s LINX Safety Advisory Board, continuing to oversee the ongoing monitoring of the safety of the LINX device and its use.

Dr. Smith has published extensively in peer reviewed journals on the use of LINX and its safety.

No other surgeon today has the depth of knowledge and experience that Dr. Smith has with the LINX device, and very few surgeons have implanted and cared for as many LINX patients as Dr. Smith.