The Federal Government's War on Medical Innovation
by Dr. Paul Hsieh
The federal government is waging a stealth two-pronged war on medical innovation. And it will cost not just American jobs, but American lives. the first prong is through new taxes.
Recently, the Cook Medical company announced that it was canceling plans to open new factories because of the impending ObamaCare tax on medical device manufacturers scheduled to take effect in 2013. The 2.3% tax on total sales (not profits) will cost Cook $20 million dollars a year. As a result, the company will not be opening five plants that would have employed up to 300 people each.
( EDITORIAL COMMENT: Do you REALLY think this is a good " jobs- creating strategy" by your current President ?)
Cook is not the only medical device company affected by the tax. Stryker (which makes artificial joints) will cut 5% of its workforce. Medtronic has announced the tax will cut into its investments in future products. Jonathan Rennert, chairman of Zoll Medical (which makes advanced cardiac defibrillators) has stated that the tax will mean “less innovation, fewer jobs, and fewer lives saved.”
The second prong of the war on innovation is through regulations...
DOCTORS'S NOTE TO PATIENTS:
Below is an example of the *types* of medical innovation you will be giving up- and that will be aborted or die a crib-death due to ObamaCare's taxes on Medical Device Manufacturers:
"The X-STOP is a minimally invasive surgical procedure designed to alleviate painful symptoms of lumbar spinal stenosis. The device is inserted into the back of the spine to prevent a patient from bending too far backward at the narrowed segment, a position that for patients with spinal stenosis can cause leg pain (sciatica) and/or lower back pain.
The device is made by Medtronic and was approved for use by the FDA in November 2005. Since its FDA approval, more than 10,000 X-STOP procedures have been performed in the US.
For patients who meet certain criteria, insertion of the X-STOP ( a minimally invasive outpatient procedure with minimal post -operative recovery) may be considered as an alternative to an open laminectomy surgery ( invasive procedure with post recovery and rehab lasting weeks to months) , the current surgical standard of care for leg pain from lumbar spinal stenosis.
http://www.spine-health.com/conditions/spinal-stenosis/spinal-stenosis-surgery-x-stop
READ MORE ABOUT OBAMACARE'S WAR ON MEDICAL INNOVATION AND JOBS HERE:
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