Personal Injury Law

Study of Artificial Spinal Disk “Prodisc” - Guided by Physicians’ Finances or Concern for Patients?

When patients are considering treatment options, there is often”blind faith” in the doctor’s recommendations, as he is viewed as a concerned, educated and neutral provider.  Perhaps, this view is naïve.   In reality, doctors are often financially motivated in the varying courses of treatment offered.  Instead of acting as neutral gatekeepers of potentially harmful drugs and procedures and “neutral scientists “investigating a procedure’s safety, at times they are in actuality financially motivated advocates for the same.  For instance, Dr. Joseph E. Zigler, a well known spine specialist, and an advocate of Prodisc, an artificial spinal disk for the lower back, has been found to have a financial stake in  success of the same.   In fact, The New York TImes has reported that doctors at about half the research centers involved in the study of Prodisc had a direct financial interest in the device?s success.

Full post as published by Legal Blog on February 28, 2008 (boomark / email).