It's definently in a weird spot.
The reason INT path was touched at first was > poison senbon used to be what scalpel is now but with a longer stun duration > this was changed by adding cast time on it due to player's criticism of a flicker combo.
Now we have the same scenario with scalpel, again due to player's criticism of a flicker combo.
In my honest opinion as someone who has used medical path for a very long time, I believe that removing the stun is the correct path for balance. I would give it the larger hitbox it used to have, with a slightly longer cooldown. It would still be a very good close combat jutsu, fairly easy to land against a melee threat, easy to place in a chain combo being an instant cast damaging jutsu, just not as the starter.