Reuse of Medical Devices and Global Health Equity

Abstract

Editorials16 October 2012Reuse of Medical Devices and Global Health EquityPaul Farmer, MD, PhD and Gene Bukhman, MD, PhDPaul Farmer, MD, PhDFrom Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02115.Search for more papers by this author and Gene Bukhman, MD, PhDFrom Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02115.Search for more papers by this authorAuthor, Article, and Disclosure Informationhttps://doi.org/10.7326/0003-4819-157-8-201210160-00015 SectionsAboutFull TextPDF ToolsAdd to favoritesDownload CitationsTrack CitationsPermissions ShareFacebookTwitterLinkedInRedditEmail The past several decades have been marked by the advent of new technologies designed and marketed to forestall disease progression. Novel diagnostics and therapeutics have been accompanied by scores of new or improved medical devices. These devices include prosthetic joints, advanced wheelchairs, and left ventricular assist devices, and their arrival on the market has often outpaced the knowledge of how and when to deploy them. What are their indications? How well do they work, and for which pathologies? How long should they be used? Are they single-use devices, such as prostheses and pacemakers, or multiuse devices, such as the external ...