Medtronic musculoskeletal news
The U.S. Senate Finance Committee completed its investigation of Medtronic and concluded that company officials influenced the content of articles in peer-reviewed scientific publications to present its bone repair product InFuse Bone Graft in the best possible light. The committee's report determined, among other findings, that Medtronic recommended omitting the discussion of adverse events possibly associated with the product in a 2005 publication, sought to emphasize pain in alternative treatments, wrote author responses to peer-review and wrote expert testimony to the FDA. The report concluded that if medical journals are to remain credible, they must aggressively require contributors to disclose all ties to industry and any assistance they received in preparing the manuscript.
Medtronic said it does not agree with many of the findings. The company "vigorously" disagrees that it improperly influenced or authored any peer-reviewed published manuscripts discussed in the report, or that it intended to under-report adverse events. However, Medtronic agrees with many of the recommendations in the report to ensure increased transparency for industry interactions with physicians. ...