The FDA is broken. How can it be fixed?
In a recent NY Times article, reporter Barry Meier discussed Medtronic’s acknowledgment that some 13 deaths have been attributed to malfunctions of a device it manufactured –a small cable, known as the Sprint Fidelis, that connects an implanted defibrillator to the patient’s heart. Apparently, Medtronic knew the device was failing shortly after it reached the market in 2004, according to the [...]
Open Wide, But Don’t Say…Anything Negative
Your doctor examines you, and in the process, proves himself an incompetent creep with not a hint of a bedside manner. You’d like to share your experience online, so that other potential patients don’t make the same mistake. Can you do it? Maybe not, if “Medical Justice” has gotten to your doctor first. According to [...]
More Transparency, Fewer Kickbacks for Doctors
In today’s NY Times, Gardiner Harris reports on renewed interest by federal prosecutors in going after doctors who accept illegal kickbacks from drug and device manufacturers in return for using their products. The Department of Health and Human Services is concerned about “marketing tactics that enrich doctors but increase health care costs and sometimes endanger [...]