There are a million reasons you’d need to know this: the power could fail on the device, something could be shorting on the system itself, a disaster could happen in surgery. So, all of a sudden, you’ll have people trained on machines who don’t know how to do it manually anymore. The other thing that’s important is there’s a cost to outsourcing your surgeries to a machine that aren’t really thought out. So, we’re hoping that, since the opioids crisis is getting attention, that the medical devices can also get some attention, and perhaps stave off disaster. The analogy is that this device isn’t necessarily better, but it does cause more harm. They’re not doing much except causing more damage in the long run, especially in the ways they’re being promoted everywhere, without rigorous testing. Ziering: I like that analogy because the new opioids aren’t necessarily better, they’re more addictive. ![]() Intuitive Surgical have a remarkable machine, but it’s still extremely dangerous, and they were not responsible in the way they put it out there. The product creates so much profit from people’s pain. It’s following a path like the one where opioids entered the market. And patients don’t know.ĭick: Intuitive Surgical is an interesting example because the product almost sells itself: you say, “Let’s operate with a robot,” and everyone says, “This sounds fantastic.” The reality is just the opposite, in most cases. Hospitals didn’t understand that when they bought the robots, and so they had huge bills, and had to book surgeries to pay those bills, even if the operators were trained. Ziering: Also, in the rush to get the robot out there, parts were malfunctioning, and hospitals weren’t aware that they’d be on the hook to pay not only a huge tab for the product itself, but also replacement products. Nobody knows the numbers but tens of thousands of people, probably hundreds of thousands of people, were harmed. But because they rushed to get that out into hospitals, they left a wake of people harmed, because doctors weren’t adequately trained. It’s a billions-of-dollars company now, they have the only robot like that out there. Part of the sell job has to do with appealing or obfuscating language, from happy acronyms like AdvaMed to company names like “ Intuitive Surgical“.ĭick: Intuitive Surgical, which makes the da Vinci robot, has run one of the most aggressive marketing campaigns for medical devices that we’re ever seen, and it’s been very successful for them. Gillespie instructing viewers to “investigate before you invest in health services or products.” We’re reminded by this trusted TV doctor from way back when. Let’s see what the real information is and then let’s see what the sell job is.Įven the archival footage warning, where Dr. Ziering: And the punctuating, as you said, with the different ads, is to remind you repeatedly, “This is a business,” a marketing gig. ![]() New may be better but it may be much worse, and you’d better find out which it is before you take another step. Everyone’s inclination is “New is better.” No. One of the messages of the film is, when you hear the word “innovative”, stop. They’re so poorly regulated: the “innovation” of medical devices is wonderful in theory but they’re not tested, so we don’t know if they’re safe or unsafe. You might have bought it at the beginning, but now you’ve seen the film and you realize there’s actually a great deal of danger in medical devices. Three quarters of the way through the film, you come back to that same scene and now you realize he was selling you a bill of goods. He’s smooth and persuasive and you’re sucked in by his appeal. Kirby Dick: The film opens as you hear the CEO of AdvaMed, the trade organization for a powerful medical device industry, talking about all the wonderful things about medical devices, how they’ve changed our lives and how they’ll do that even more in the future. The film is structured to underline this point, that the system is first and foremost a business, from the open on Scott Whitaker’s Steve-Jobs-like presentation to the medical device ads that serve as a kind of punctuation throughout the film. ![]() The system is completely broken, completely devolved into this business that has nothing to do with health. I notice at the end of the film, one item on the list of what “we can do” is to be an advocate for patients in hospital.Īmy Ziering: Yes, and we urge everyone to be informed. I imagine that when you screen the film, many viewers share their similar experiences with you.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |