medlatest Editorial

View From The Med Week 28 is our roundup of events from the past seven days. We never cease to be amazed by the amount of new technology we see each week.

In this guest editorial, submitted by John Martin of legal marketing specialist firm eJustice, he reports on FDA’s most recent review of the ongoing all-metal hip debacle.

Improving success rates after heart attacks, avoiding problems following cataract removal or robotic prostatectomy, improving accuracy in spinal fixation. And more. This week’s View From The Med points to extraordinary advances that we just take for granted.

Consumers Union is a powerful patient rights advocacy group in USA, and as such it’s perhaps not surprising to see it welcoming the Unique Device Identifier proposals from FDA… and asking why it’s taken so long.

Richard Smith says it’s time to open up the finances of medical journals so we can see whether lucrative reprint business is risking clouding judgement. A bit more transparency about publications’ sources of income would perhaps provide comfort.

This week we’re trying to decide whether any little companies have really made it big against their giant cousins, and if not, why not?

View From The Med is our weekly reflection on the events of the past seven days. This week has been a busy one as usual with a few gems. Enjoy.

Back in February US congressional watchdog, the Government Accountability Office asked FDA to implement more stringent testing of medical devices before market release. Four months on a law firm sees fit to make a meal of it.

It’s industry body Eucomed’s job to be the cheerleader for Europe’s medical device industry members. And when Eucomed speaks, we listen. However, in what we’re hoping is a healthy contribution to the debate, we’re taking issue with some aspects of regulatory director John Brennan’s latest blog in which he is arch defender of the status quo.

We seem to be writing about Renal Denervation every few weeks as the players unveil their latest approval of latest study result. So we thought it worth stepping back and considering the state of play for a moment.

News, views, opinions, events from another week keeping a close eye on medical device technology.

There’s no doubt that much of what is proposed in the European Parliamentary measures to improve patient safety represent sensible and overdue measures. But the European “PMA” is sounding like a hammer to crack a nut. Eucomed isn’t sounding convinced either.

Parliamentary select committee on medical device regulation saw witnesses from industry and regulatory stakeholders today. It’s all looking very harmonious, but has anyone thought about the cost of the brave new world that is being sold to us?

Acquisition’s, Approvals, Medical Device Tax Repeal… it’s all happening this week.

It puts events in perspective when a natural disaster the size of that which has hit Italy in recent weeks is translated into what it really means for local people and businesses. Eucomed’s feature says it all and is an appeal for help.

The House of Representatives has voted 270-146 in favour of progressing the repeal act, but the game’s far from over as the bill may be squashed by a stubborn White House.