Bill Walton hired to lobby for medical device industry

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NBA Legend Bill Walton Joins Medical Device Industry's Lobbying Efforts

Written by  Jaimie Oh | June 04, 2012

Bill Walton, 59-year-old NBA legend, joined 200 medical device executive as part of the Medical Device Manufacturers Association's efforts to lobbying on behalf of the medical device industry, according to a Mass Device report.

Mr. Walton spoke at MDMA's annual meeting in late May and discussed his experiences as a patient undergoing spinal fusion surgery and the challenges the industry faces, including the medical device excise tax, regulatory struggles with the FDA and reimbursement with CMS. After his speech, Mr. Walton and NuVasive CEO Alex Lukianov traveled to Capitol Hill to lobby lawmakers on these issues.

           

             
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Bill Walton is being paid to be a spokesperson, a broadcaster, a mouthpiece for the industry.  He is in business just as the medical device executives are.  The Institute of Medicine, Public Citizen, NWHN, Consumers Union have advised that regulatory intervention is badly needed to prevent further patient harm.  Greed will not go away but public awareness will shine a light on their "innovations" that include obscuring product information from patient decision-making, limiting citizen rights to justice/compensation and scrimping on clinical trials.   Patient harm and cost to taxpayers for care of abandoned victims is crippling our nation

because of failed/unproven implanted medical devices.



Jaimie Oh
Writer/Reporter, Becker's Hospital Review
Quality/Patient Safety
Writer/Reporter, Becker's ASC Review
ASC Quality/Infection Control, Accreditation
jaimie@beckersasc.com

FiDA Blog additional comment:  Sports figures/celebrities are often selected and reimbursed for their endorsements of medical device products.  (Particularly in the Orthopedic medical field because nearly all orthopedic surgeons are male as is 83% of Congress.   Just saying . . .!)