tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1732132352927731247.post8454758826228826723..comments2024-03-16T00:27:31.848-07:00Comments on Hooked: Ethics, Medicine, and Pharma: Who's at Fault: The Company or the Physicians?Howard Brodyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00599587504924835039noreply@blogger.comBlogger1125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1732132352927731247.post-20619124318455292162011-06-06T22:53:50.982-07:002011-06-06T22:53:50.982-07:00My grandma had her pacemaker replaced. They were s...My grandma had her pacemaker replaced. They were supposed to replace it with the same pacemaker.<br /><br />Well, apparently medicare would only allow certain Medtronic devices, but neither my grandmother or mother (who has power of attorney) were told they were implanting a different device. However, they made it pretty clear they didn't want a different device.<br /><br />It turned out she had a defective pacemaker. Not only was it pacing at bradycardic and tachycardic speeds when it was supposed to be set to 70 bpm, but her blood pressure was dangerously high. We took her to the doctor literally every day after the pacemaker implant, and the surgeon even opened her back up to check the device. We asked the doctor/surgeon if they could install the same device she had before, and he said it wasn't necessary as the pacemaker "was fine". It continued to malfunction and a few days later she had a stroke that left her paralyzed and bed bound for 8 months.<br /><br />She is deceased now and in a better place, but I still wonder if medicare would only pay for the Medtronic device, or if the surgeon would only use Medtronic for whatever reason.<br /><br />From my point of view, bad medical ethics are becoming more apparent all the time, and if this surgeon had some kind of connection to Medtronic, it honestly wouldn't surprise me. I'm not looking to blame anyone because it is what it is, and the surgeon did do the right thing by opening her up again and looking for a problem. These are just some internal questions that I have really never expressed. The whole ordeal before the stroke just seemed really strange.<br /><br />Keep up your work. Many may not like you for questioning the establishment, but somebody needs to expose bad medical ethics and corrupton that just seems to be growing as the years pass by.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com