LegendaryLife Blog

No matter how you cut it, being sick isn’t any fun and nothing to look forward to nor to brag about. If you happen to have a serious medical condition requiring you to carry around with you a medical device such as a wheelchair or asthma inhaler then we begin going down a slippery slope.

Treatments are not always followed

One of the toughest parts of being in the medical field isn’t the diagnosis, it’s the treatment. From parents that don’t run through an entire course of antibiotics to cure little Billys ear infection to the seventy year old grandmother who rations off medication to have enough to eat. Most medicines that you must ingest taste horrible, injections are never fun and for those with severe problems, daily regimens are rarely something to look forward too. Essentially, people find ways out of doing what is prescribed consciously or subconsciously to their detriment.

Why make medical devices cool?

Some medical devices such as wheelchairs have come a HUGE way, sure, the crappy ancient ones still predominate but at least there are alternatives sprouting. If I lost my legs, I would want a decked out, chromed and sleek looking wheelchair, it would make me feel better instead of the drab chair with wheels you see in the institutions. Another area of growth is with medical containment. If you suffer from asthma, you can now buy cool looking asthma inhaler cases and I am sure the light bulb has lit across the medical devices field as to the opportunities for additional revenues that charging a few dollars more for “cool” can bring in.

Problems associated with Cool medical gear

I already have a problem with the pharmaceutical company taking the helm to educate the public about health conditions that promote their brand name products (when far cheaper and just as effective generics are available). The results speak for themselves. It’s no mistake that the United States consumes more medication (necessary or otherwise) from controlling kids in school to treating depression in adults and the general acceptance of a drug culture (alcohol to tobacco). The government has clearly given control of public health issues.

I do see a class system developing between the “haves” and “have nots” within the patient community for a host of conditions. The cool kids will have all their latest Harry Potter Canes and hovering wheelchairs while the others will be stuck with rusty institutional chairs and a dowel. Don’t believe me? Simply compare the top of the line medical institutions in the USA vs the third world, this is what is already happening in the industrialized world.

It isn’t all bad

Now the flip side, if having a Harry Potter Cane makes little Billy more energetic to follow a course of therapy, then the extra cost is marginal compared to the emotional gain. If the mass marketing of medical devices becomes fashionable, then all the old, drab stuff will quickly make its way to the third world, filling up hospitals with essential equipment that will make a tremendous difference. Who knows, the extra profits earned by medical device manufacturers may even end up in R&D budgets, further improving treatment options for patients around the world.

The Bottom Line

Medicine and medical devices are necessities for those requiring them, not fashion statements for those who don’t.

Reference

http://crave.cnet.com/8301-1_105-9741281-1.html