A note on the Med Tech Investment conference in Minneapolis

As a journalist, I’m frequently beset with impulsive self-righteousness. Which is why I jumped the gun a bit this week.

I wanted to attend the Med Tech Investment conference in Minneapolis this past week, specifically a speech by Dr. Dan Schultz, the former head of the Center for Devices and Radiological Health (CDRH) at the Food and Drug Administration. Dr. Schultz, who now advises medical device firms, is a bit of a lightening rod: FDA officials pressured him to resign last year amid charges he was too cozy with industry.

The conference was already full but I figured I could still wrestle admission through a source moderating the event. He made no promises but said he would try. The morning of the event, he sent an e-mail saying no dice: certain people, of which he didn’t identify, were unhappy with my coverage of the FDA town hall meeting on Tuesday where Schultz’s successor, Dr. Jeffrey Shuren, listened to the public’s views on how the FDA regulates or will regulate devices. “They” didn’t want me there, he wrote.

Therefore, I wrote a blog post that implied organizers of the event, International Business Forum and LifeScience Alley, barred me from the event, which is not accurate.