(Washington) State urges FDA to ban unproven medical devices

[TechBear_Seattle]

State urges FDA to ban unproven medical devices

Washington state officials are urging the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to ban numerous unproven and dangerous medical devices, saying their sale and use is "a national problem."

Attorney General Rob McKenna and Department of Health Secretary Mary Selecky have called for the FDA to take industrywide action, after a Seattle Times investigation highlighted problems with unproven "energy medicine" devices.

...

The Times' series, "Miracle Machines," revealed how manufacturers and operators used unproven devices — some illegal, some dangerous — to misdiagnose diseases, divert critically ill people from lifesaving care and drain their bank accounts.

These victims are casualties in the growing field called "energy medicine" — alternative therapies based on the belief that the body has energy fields that can be manipulated to improve health. These devices can be as small as a television remote control or as large as a steamer trunk.

The full article can be read at http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2004106867_fda04m.html

[Warpy]

1. The placebo effect is very real for a lot of people

but any device that claims to replace standard medical treatment for serious illness needs to be banned.

Any device that does potential harm needs to be banned.

Any device (and I'm thinking of things like weak magnets, copper bracelets, and even those silly Japanese foot pads) that does no harm, doesn't pretend to replace standard medicine for life threatening illness, and can trigger the placebo effect should be left alone.

I'm quite jealous of people who are susceptible to the placebo effect. It would have saved me a fortune over the years.

[dmallind]

2. This is not a simple issue though

For every worry about unproven or long term negative side effects there is a worry that an insurance company won't cover a promising new experimental device or drug that could help sick people until the FDA has fully completed the extra testing needed to weed out the failures.

Don't get me wrong - I'm fine with banning the egregiously useless or harmful stuff, or at least making damn sure no claims of efficacy can even be implied - it's just hard to draw a black and white line about where and when such calls should be made for those which are NOT egregious.