This blog has been following the case of a U of MN physician whose association with a medical device-product and its perceived off-label uses has been the focus of an ever-widening net of criticism. That net now includes the president of the Association for Medical Ethics and, locally, a St. Paul neurosurgeon. The target, David Polly, MD, is the chief of the spine department within the Dept. of Orthopaedics at the medical school.

While at Walter Reed Medical Center in Washington, Polly performed procedures using devices and products developed by Twin Cities-based Medtronic;^[1] those procedures were considered off-label, according to federal regulations. Although devices and drugs may be used for other treatments and procedures for which they were not entirely made, the promotion of those off-label uses raises the ethical sticking point. For Polly, it’s just the latest headache in the ongoing trials with the device maker for which he is, at least, guilty by association. | LINK

1. He was compensated $1.2 million by the company between 2003 and 2007. [↩]

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