Every week, MedCity News highlights the best of its MedCitizens: syndication partners and MedCity News readers who discuss life science current events on MedCityNews.com.
Now here’s the best of what YOU had to say:
4 steps to protect medical device intellectual property rights. “We have all heard stories from doctors about some medical device company stealing their idea for a new product. Perhaps there are real medtech bandits on the prowl, but in the vast majority of cases, it’s more a matter of misconceptions and miscommunication.”
With the Rise of AI, What IP Disputes in Healthcare Are Likely to Emerge?
Munck Wilson Mandala Partner Greg Howison shared his perspective on some of the legal ramifications around AI, IP, connected devices and the data they generate, in response to emailed questions.
Patient safety, doctors’ judgments sacrificed in checklist healthcare. “If a young patient comes in with acute appendicitis and I feel that it would be prudent to continue the Zosyn an extra couple of days, an automatic stop order is triggered in the department of pharmacy and the antibiotic is stopped after 24 hours, no matter what. Unless the surgeon specifically writes, ‘please do not stop this antibiotic after 24 hours; it is being administered for therapeutic purposes, not prophylaxis,’ the antibiotic will not be sent to the patient’s floor for administration. As a result, patients end up being treated sub-optimally, and potentially harmed, due to an over-emphasis on ‘protocol’ and ‘quality care metrics.'”
Successfully Naming your MedTech Company (hint: add beer). “In the end, the true test of a company name is if you can imagine someone in a hospital or doctors’ office shouting, without a hint of irony, ‘The people from [insert company name] are here, they brought donuts.'”
A real need in US healthcare reform: An end to bad regulations. “In health care, we have seen an unprecedented rise in regulations for in-hospital MRSA screening while little data have been forthcoming about its patient benefits. Doctors are under increased administrative burdens to complete Pay for Performance questionnaires without any evidence of their benefit to patients. Burdensome and costly re-credentialing programs have never been shown to improve health care quality. In fact, we’re seeing so many regulations on how we provide care foist upon us without any clear indication that patient outcomes have benefited that we have to wonder if, like the CPSC, common-sense regulation will even get a head nod as well.”
Are expensive cancer drugs worth the cost to Medicare? “America’s love affair with scientific medicine shows no sign of ending…Somebody in the not too distant future is going to be given the job of rationing this expensive health care (I’ve given up on even having a national or rational discussion about limiting the outrageous prices that the private sector charges for these treatments).”
A Personalized Approach to Medication Nonadherence
At the Abarca Forward conference earlier this year, George Van Antwerp, managing director at Deloitte, discussed how social determinants of health and a personalized member experience can improve medication adherence and health outcomes.
