Many patients only discover a problem with their medical implants after feeling pain, discomfort or illness.
The Recall Process for Medical Devices
The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) regulates the medical device industry. In order to bring a medical product to market, the manufacturer is tasked with conducting studies of its safety and effectiveness. The corporation can ignore adverse outcomes or may not ask all the right questions during its research. Once the product is on the market, the FDA must have proof of its risks of injuries to take action, which might only consist of warning labels. Usually, patients must die or become seriously ill or injured before recall is proposed. Even then, the corporation may resist, creating lengthy delays in pulling the product from the medical pipeline.
The flawed system puts control in the hands of medical corporations. Unfortunately, these companies often put profits ahead of patient health.