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Columnist With Parkinson’s Urges Keeping Ban on Device Suits

The Wall Street Journal, May 12, 2009, 4:59 PM ET
http://blogs.wsj.com/health/2009/05/...its/tab/print/

Columnist Michael Kinsley, a former star with the New Republic, CrossFire and Slate, announced years a few years back that he had developed Parkinson’s disease. In a bittersweet moment, Kinsley today came to the House Energy and Commerce Committee to testify about what he considers the wonders of a device implanted in him — Medtronic’s Activa brain stimulator.
Kinsley has frequently inveighed against what he thinks are junk lawsuits, greedy plaintiffs, lucre-driven tort lawyers, foolish judges and dumb juries — making him a perfect witness for the medical-device industry, which recruited him. The industry is worried about the possibility of product-liability lawsuits on many products; such suits currently prohibited by the Supreme Court’s ruling in Medtronic v. Riegel last year. See our previous post for more background.



How To Build A Bigger Brain

Main Category: Neurology / Neuroscience
Also Included In: MRI / PET / Ultrasound; Clinical Trials / Drug Trials
Medical News Today, Article Date: 13 May 2009 - 2:00 PDT
http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/149803.php

Push-ups, crunches, gyms, personal trainers people have many strategies for building bigger muscles and stronger bones. But what can one do to build a bigger brain?

Meditate.

IF it weren't for my DBS, I'd probably be dead by now. I have NO doubt that this is true.
WWhile I am sorry for those who's DBS has gone poorly, THe over-whelming
percentage of DBS'er's are quite happy with theirs. Curently the best surgeons enjoy a 95%-98% success rate. THe weak liink in the process is programming, which is something that can be fixed.
It is no longer a treatment of "last resort". It has been proven to be better than drug treatments. Medtronic will have NO shortage of willing testimonials if they should ever be sued for a faulty device!!
IT is a "mature" treatment.

Charlie

Charlie, I found a The Washington Post article that has his email address if you would like to share your thoughts personally:

Michael Kinsley It is a form page/email.

I found it with this article:
Life After Newspapers

I hope Kinsley is using his fee from Medtronic to help patients damaged by a faulty DBS procedure.

DBS has its successes and failures. If the failure in any individual instance is due to a faulty Medtronic product, then the patient should be allowed to sue.

I can't believe anyone would want to deny this right to another.

Alarm Sounded On Social Security

Report Also Warns Of Medicare Collapse

By Amy Goldstein, Washington Post Staff Writer, Wednesday, May 13, 2009
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn...051200252.html

The financial health of the Social Security system has eroded more sharply in the past year than at any time since the mid-1990s, according to a government forecast that ratchets up pressure on the Obama administration and Congress to stabilize the retirement system that keeps many older Americans out of poverty.

Medtronic does an outstanding job of quality control. I know of only one premature batterey failure. OF course if MEdtronic is a fault they should be liable, but it is grey area as to who's at fault, Medtronic or the installing surgeon. I fear the "baby being thrown out with the bath water", in a liability suite.
DBS works, and works well. The surgeons experience is tremendously important for a good outcome.
It'a just a question of time til someone sues over well known DBS complications such as speech. Even though this is a side effect that is a result of lead placement.

doing without my DBS is a frightening thought!

Charlie

This is big Pharma/BioTech bullying at its best. Why should medical devices get a free pass when drugs don't? DBS wasn't even required to go through an FDA double blinded clinical trial.

This is all about citizens' rights to be protected vs corporate profits. Your DBS is not at stake; only Medtronic's profit margin.

"Profit" is not a curse word! Profit is what fuels new discoveries. While I am not in complete agreement with Mr. Kingsley. I think that it could be very hard to separate installation errors from device malfunctions. There are VERY few device malfunctions, the main failures we see in my group are wiring breaks and bodily fluids compromsing connections.

Charlie

Charlie - I didn't say "profit" - I said "profit margin'. There's a difference.

And if there are failures of any kind - especially if it's hard to pinpoint why - then seems to me that this is still a risky procedure.

Consumers need protection.

How do we know that the overwhelming percentage of DBS'ers are quite happy with their results? Was a survey taken of everyone who has had DBS by an independent research organization? Or do we get this impression from surveys funded by Medtronic or a bought and paid for neuro making a fortune off of the surgeries.

You know I am very thankful that you, Charlie, and many others who have had successful experiences with DBS have, as you say, been given their lives back. But I also know many folks who have not been satisfied to the point that they wish they had chosen not to have the procedure.

I think the rub here is that Medtronic has engaged in ongoing criminal behavior, from bribery to kickbacks to providing junketeering docs with prostitutes, in an effort to push their products. In a word, they are criminals. Not a good company that inadvertently stepped over a murky regulatory line concerning marketing. Criminals in the most literal sense of the word - bribery and kickbacks to doctors and surgeons to promote their products. In the last few years alone they have paid out over $50 million to the Dept of Justice to settle such charges, and according to a judge in an ongoing whistle-blower suit, they continue to engage in such activities up to the present. (see Rick's thread for links to support these facts).

So how do we know that the doc who recommends the surgery is giving his or her honest opinion, or is being paid by Medtronic to give that opinion? How can we rely on anything we are told about the success rate when Medtronic itself has so poisoned the atmosphere with it's crimes?

And let me ask one last question. If Medtronic medical devices are as good as "they" say for as many people as they say, why do they need to bribe neuros to say so?

I'm not saying don't get DBS. I AM saying factor into your decision the knowledge that the "facts" about DBS may be tainted or influenced by Medtronic or may be outright lies. If I was going to buy a product that could so profoundly effect my life, I would want to know whether I was buying that product from a reputable company or someone with a rap sheet as long as my arm.

Respectfully,

Greg