Hip/knee implants rise at same rate as payouts to doctors
July 3rd, 2008 joshua
The Philadelphia Inquirer recently reported on the rise in the number of hip and knee replacement surgeries over the past decade.
It said during the past ten years, as compared to ten years prior, the number of these surgeries has doubled. At least 750,000 surgeries are performed each year.
The report also noted that during this time the implant industry has boomed and makers of these joint replacements are enjoying a 20 percent profit margin.
The competition in this market is heating up and to get physicians on their side and using their products in the operating room, makers of these joints are paying top dollar in royalties and so-called consulting fees.
Doctors are being given up to 7-figure totals to tout the benefits of a certain company’s product before other industry professionals.
These payments are being called into question for ethical concerns on the part of physicians. There is the obvious cause for concern that a doctor would think of the money being paid by a certain manufacturer and skew his judgment on a particular surgery.
Hip replacements are linked to injuries and strange defects in patients, including squeaking hips.
