227 results
The real worth of medical technologies
The blogosphere has been driven into a foment over the last week or so by a paper by Groeneveld et al entitled ‘Increasing Use of Cardiovascular Devices and Rising Health Costs’. Its conclusions are interesting but, I suggest, not conclusive of anything which should prompt policy makers to ask further questions. Discounted for inflation the […]
Musings on markets from weary traveller
Like much of the business community I have had plenty of time for thought and reading. A 24 hour trip to Milan has turned into a five day marathon. Both reading and experience have stimulated thoughts about the operation of markets. Firstly, after several hours on Thursday, I managed to secure a hotel room in […]
Is corruption an ethnocentric concept? My first experience as a guest lecturer
Talking about ethics and compliance as industry understands it within the frame of a course of Health Systems Management given at the Public Health School of the Université Libre de Bruxelles (ULB) presented itself as a challenge. On the one hand, Eucomed is putting a lot of efforts into promoting a culture of integrity and […]
Posted on 11.03.2010
Today is World Kidney Day
The prominence of World Kidney Day (11th March) brings into sharp focus the changing epidemiology of our times and the impact of modern life styles of the developed world on the demands placed on healthcare systems. The surge in incidence of diabetes coupled with extending life expectancy are producing a parallel rise in the incidence […]
Outsourcing R&D and the Medtech industry
In recent weeks within the pharmaceutical industry there has been much talk of both downsizing – GSK and AstraZeneca shedding 11,000 jobs – and outsourcing of research and development, with a whole range of licensing or partnership deals designed to pad out faltering product pipelines. Once again I was prompted to think about the prospect […]
Posted on 12.02.2010
Clinton brings stents into the news
It is perhaps surprising how quickly coronary angioplasty has become just another everyday procedure. As someone who has seen open-heart surgery live and witnessed the trauma and hospital resource intensity of such procedures, the placing of a stent as an alternative is almost unimaginably better for both patient and the health sytem as a whole. […]
Posted on 16.12.2009
Avoiding repeats of the ‘Greek Tragedy’
As the true depth of the Greek debt crisis unfolds it is hard to understand why the alarm bells were not ringing long ago. In our sector alone there is something in the region of €2.3 billion of unpaid bills and this has not happened overnight. We were warning of this particular symptom almost two […]
An opportunity for true global harmonisation?
In an ideal world we would have the same rules on devices in each country. As patients, as we live or travel in different countries, we can be confident that should we fall ill, the devices used to help us are as safe as the ones at home. As businesses, we would be confident that […]
Posted on 14.10.2009
John Wilkinson at AdvaMed 2009: A view on the US health reforms
A chill wind is blowing through Washington D.C. this morning and it is not just the cold front from the North blowing away the warm Autumn sun of yesterday. Yesterday, the Obama health reforms took their first step on a long and perilous road through the legislature when the Senate Finance Committee passed the preliminary […]