Sunday, January 23, 2011

Asian medical innovation:

Life should be cheap | The Economist:


"America’s Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is excessively risk-averse: it often takes twice as long to approve a new medical technology as European regulators do. America’s confusing approvals process deters upstart medical-technology firms, since they typically lack the deep pockets and army of experts required to navigate it. And for a device to succeed in America it must be blessed not just by the FDA but also by the bureaucrats who oversee Medicare and Medicaid, the two huge government health-care schemes. Obtaining that blessing can take years."

The worlds finest health care?

"A night in an American hospital typically costs 25 times as much as a night in an Indian, Brazilian or Chinese one; a night in a European hospital typically costs four times as much."

4 comments:

  1. Being slow to bring expensive high-tech devices to market isn't necessarily a bad thing, since once there they are often overused.

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  2. I feel we are doomed....no progress only greed!

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  3. Being slow to bring ANY device to market is a peculiarity of the FDA, etc. Innovators without fat wallets go elsewhere or give up. The FDA is a 'crime' itself as it long ago gave up its main mission.

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  4. Ms Ima...

    I agree. I think 'doom' happened; not on 9/11 but on the previous years election date.

    I was watching 'Slumdog Millionaire' last night and saw a lot of similarities with our lives...

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