By: Don Caldwell
How much is your life worth?
Excerpts italicized:
Orthopedic surgeons have received hundreds of millions of dollars from joint implant manufacturers in recent years, according to a recent report.
In 2007, five device makers said they had paid surgeons more than $198 million, with 43 payments exceeding $1 million.
While the number of payments appears to have dropped since 2007, the average dollar amount has gone up, based on data from the three manufacturers that disclosed physician payments made in the last several years.
Those financial ties represent anything from consulting fees to royalties to research support. Some argue they are necessary to drive medical innovations, but others fear they could end up harming patients as well.
Doctors getting industry money could be quicker to use implants from the companies paying them, for instance, or downplay the side effects of those products in their research.
The new results come as the U.S. Senate investigates whether surgeons paid by Medtronic, a medical device maker not included in the current study, failed to report sterility and other complications stemming from the company's bone-growth implant Infuse.
We all can reason our way through almost anything given the proper desire / motivation, but can we also recognize how our perceptions can be biased due to personal gain?
The financial incentives surrounding the decisions our healthcare providers make at best cloud their decision making abilities. Giving our doctors the benefit of the doubt and assuming that most are unaffected by this, we must recognize that a sizable minority have their decisions influenced by these financial incentives.
It can be difficult to take a side in this issue, but I imagine no one would want to be on the receiving end of decision clouded by this….
Should Your Treatment Be Dictated By How much money you will make your Doctor?
(ORIGINAL LINK) Million-Dollar Payments To Surgeons Raise Questions | Fox News
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