Posted by Michael Wonder on 25 Nov 2018
Dangerous medical devices let through by loopholes and lax regulation
26 November 2018 - The New Orleans sales conference of medical-device maker DePuy Orthopaedics Inc. was rocking. The sound system blasted "Takin' Share of Business!" — a play on the '70s hit tune — as top company executives boogied in Mardi Gras-style costumes through a hall full of sales personnel.
And why not? DePuy, a unit of healthcare giant Johnson & Johnson, was dominating one of the hottest products in the medical device industry: "metal-on-metal" replacement hips, touted as more durable than traditional varieties that use plastic and other materials.
Leading the way was DePuy's cornerstone brand, Pinnacle, which had helped the company capture more than half of that market.
