bad medical devices blog

Davo, makers of the recalled Kugel Mesh Hernia Patch, started receiving complaints about the defective recoil rings all the way back in 2002. The recoil ring, which is intended to open after the hernia patch is inserted, was designed with a flaw that has caused painful and seriously dangerous problems to many Kugel patch patients. […]

Zimmer Holdings has announced sweeping changes in the way it will spend money on so-called consultants fees paid to doctors and scientists to support their products.
Zimmer is one of five makers of hip and knee implants involved in a Federal Trade Commission and Department of Justice investigation determining if the companies paid illegal kickbacks to […]

The long-lasting detrimental effects of the recalled Medtronic defibrillators are far from over, as evidenced by the tragic story of one self-proclaimed “Medtronic victim” who recently wrote into the website lawyersandsettlements.com.
After suffering a massive heart attack during a semi-pro football game, at age 23 this young man was told his football career was over, and […]

A report last year which recommended the moderate use of tanning beds as a way of treating a Vitamin D deficiency was authored by a Boston University researcher who received research funding from an organization funded by the tanning bed industry.
The article appeared in the New England Journal of Medicine last year and footnotes at […]

Our friends Medtronic announced Wendesday that the FDA has approved the new Talent stent system to treat aneurysms of the aorta.
According to Medtronic, whose recalled defibrillators continue to endanger the lives of thousands, about 15,000 people in the U.S. die each year from ruptures of the artery. This new aortic stent, the Talent, is what […]

The New York Times found several doctors who’ve stopped accepting payments to appear at conferences and speak on behalf of a drug or medical device, or sit on advisory boards of these industries.
This is uncommon these days as we’re learning more and more every day of doctors who’ve been spoon-fed cash in exchange for endorsement […]

Studies which discouraged the use of drug-eluting heart stents had some impact on their overall use in the first quarter of 2008.
Last year’s dust-up over the effectiveness and safety of the controversial medical devices, combined with a fresh competitor, caused Johnson & Johnson’s sales of its heart stent to drop as compared to the first […]

Medtronic is following suit with other medical device makers in becoming slightly more transparent, but as we reported yesterday, this current motivation for the industry to disclose how it spends its money may benefit medical device makers in the long run.
The Minnesota-based maker of controversial implantable cardioverter-defibrillators says it will disclose the amount of money […]

Pharmaceutical and medical device companies are acting unusually transparent, of course they had to be prodded by at least one lawmaker in Washington.
Senator Charles Grassley (R-Iowa) sent letters to 15 companies requesting information on CME grants they award to physicians. Grassley suspects some companies are using these grant payments to further promote their drugs, a […]

An Arkansas man who nearly lost his hearing from a defective, implanted hearing aid may be about to lose his mind.
Though a court recently overturned a ruling against the maker of the defective hearing aid, Soundtec, a more recent Supreme Court ruling says device makers are protected from state lawsuits if the defective medical device […]