Showing posts with label HealthwatchUSA. Show all posts
Showing posts with label HealthwatchUSA. Show all posts
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HealthwatchUSA conference focuses on device implants.
Published: October 31, 2013
By
Jim Warren — jwarren@herald-leader.com FiDA highlight
A health conference Friday in
Lexington will explore various patient safety issues, including the potential
risks of joint replacement implants.
"Many people in their 40s and
50s are having these devices put in today, expecting them to last 30 or 40
years. But anything mechanical eventually fails," said Dr. Kevin Kavanagh,
the conference coordinator.
The meeting also will focus on the
new federal Sunshine Act, which requires public disclosure of payments to
doctors by pharmaceutical companies and manufacturers of medical devices.
Kavanagh said that medical devices
like artificial joint implants offer advantages, but they can pose risks to
patients. "They are largely unregulated, and many of them have had
inadequate testing," he said.
Implants don't come with a guarantee,
he said.
"You buy a toaster, you get a
guarantee," Kavanagh said. "But you get a complex hip implant that
may cost tens of thousands of dollars, and it comes with no guarantee. Without
that, it's very hard to find out how long these devices are even supposed to
last."
The Consumers Union contends that
implant manufacturers should be required to guarantee their products.
Joleen Chambers, founder of the
Failed Implant Device Alliance, is a keynote speaker at Friday's conference.
Jim Warren (859) 231-3255.
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