How The Medical Device Industry Lobbies

February 29, 2012 By GoozNews (From Public Citizen): 30 Things You Need to Know About The Medical Device Industry “I think it’s important for members (of Congress) to hear from industry.” So said Carrie Hartgen, a vice-president at AdvaMed, the medical device industry association, discussing another coordinated lobby effort before Congress. Her comment seems insincere because the fact is, Congress is already hearing a lot from the medical device industry. In fact, the industry’s lobbying is particularly acute right now because Congress is scheduled to pass a law reauthorizing user fees that funds review of applications for devices before they can be sold to the public. Lobbyists are arguing for changes that would speed up approval of medical devices in a system that in fact needs to be strengthened to protect patients from defective devices, instead of being weakened to pad profits. While AdvaMed continues to put its foot forward in Washington, below are 30 facts that its industry lobbyists will probably neglect to tell Congress. Read more