Medical Implants May Be Hazardous to Your Health Warning: If a defective model is recalled, no one is required to tell you. Here's how to help fix this problem.

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Medical Implants May Be Hazardous to Your Health

Warning: If a defective model is recalled, no one is required to tell you.

Here's how to help fix this problem.

BY ALEXIS JETTER

Some 25 million Americans rely on implanted medical devices. They help us

live longer, more active lives.

But this high-tech gadgetry can mean high potential for trouble. Between

1990

and 2001, 689 recall notices, affecting more than two million implants, were

issued for malfunctions or labeling or manufacturing errors. In case of an

implant recall, firms remove a product from the market, while a safety alert

warns hospitals and surgeons to monitor any of the recalled implants that

may pose

a substantial risk. But a notice does not go to the patients who are walking

around with a possibly faulty device.

Some experts say there is a way to alert future medical-implant patients to

problems: a national registry. E. Baier, Ph.D., director of the

biomaterials graduate program at the State University of New York at

Buffalo,

envisions a state-run implant registry, similar to the automotive industry's

registry.

All that's needed, says Baier, are bar code stickers for each implant -- one

for the medical chart, another scanned in with the code on the patient's

wristband. That way, any future safety alerts about the implant would be

attached

to the patient's contact information and could be mailed directly to his or

her

home. What's more, if patients were tracked nationally, doctors might know

sooner when a problem is emerging.

Until then, how to protect yourself? If surgery isn't an emergency, research

the pros and cons of similar medical products made by different

manufacturers

and get recommendations from more than one doctor. Once you have an implant,

take these steps to minimize potential problems:

> Know your device. Find out exactly what the implant is and what it's

> supposed to do. Don't leave the hospital until you've written down the company

and

> product name, model and serial number. Ask that this information be put in

> your medical chart; surprisingly, such record keeping isn't routine.

>

> Be sure every doctor who treats you knows you have an implant. Even if a

> device is functioning well, patients may need to avoid certain machines, like

an

> MRI scanner.

>

> Keep yourself (and others) informed. Check out the manufacturer's Website if

> you have a question. And to find out whether there's ever been a recall for

> your product or model, visit the FDA's site at www.recalls.gov. You can also

> report your own problems to the FDA at this site.

>

> Stay in touch with your surgeon. Your follow-up care may be handled by

> another doctor, but your surgeon or his or her hospital would be the most

likely

> to hear of a recall or safety alert. Let that office know if you've moved or

> changed your phone number.

Protecting Patients!

Defective medical implants are causing scores of injuries, even deaths. But

patients may be the last to know when a faulty product is recalled or put on

safety alert. This must change! Good Housekeeping calls on federal

authorities

to protect the 25 million Americans who already have implants and the

millions

more who will get them in the future. We need a foolproof system to make

sure

patients are notified -- immediately -- when a medical device may be

threatening their lives.

Your voice counts! Fill out the online coupon below. We will forward all

coupons to federal leaders for action and report on our progress in a future

issue

of the magazine.

To fill out the coupon go to:

http://magazines.ivillage.com/goodhousekeeping/hb/health/articles/0,,284594_

615788-2,00.html?arrivalSA=1&cobrandRef=0&

arrival_freqCap=2

To learn more about recalled medical implants, pick up the March 2004 issue

of Good Housekeeping.