So after last week’s AADE summit, the internet has been buzzing with talk about new tech, new treatment plans, and new theories put forth by some of the best researchers and educators in the field. But above all of this, one question seems to be cropping up more than any:
How come the US is so far behind in diabetes technology?
You may or may not know that generally, Europe is far ahead of us when it comes to the approval of new health technology and treatments. In the diabetes world, the Medtronic Veo Pump has been available in Europe since early last year, and it has the remarkable ability to detect when your blood sugar is running low and shut itself off (in addition to other features). Over a year and a half later, and this product still hasn’t passed the FDA’s testing cycle.
It’s not just diabetes–most leading healthcare starts in Europe, while the US lags behind the approval process an average of 2-3 years ( sometimes more). Heck, there are treatments for other disease that have been approved in Europe since 2005 (!) that have not gotten the okay in the US. Even crazier? The recall rate for products in the EU is actually slightly less than our own!
This begs the question: is the FDA’s system is working? Clearly we can’t have treatments laced with dangerous side-effects making their way to patients, but if an entire country seems to be doing fine with it, wouldn’t it make sense that we would too? Now, to be fair, the FDA recognizes that the approval process is cumbersome, and they’ve input a plan to fast-track certain medical devices if they benefit a large segment of the population. Currently, it’s still too early to see if this initiative is actually creating meaningful change. Meanwhile, Europe continues to reap the benefits of improved, up-to-date technology that people in this country are dying to get their hands on. Not only that, but roadblocks like this could definitely have an effect on the passing on a practical cure through the system.
How do you guys feel about this? Is it time to relax our system a bit to pass more devices through? What do you think the FDA should do? Fire back down below or on Facebook.
Until Next time.
–Nick
