Not only was Medtronic recently investigated by the Senate Finance Committee for improperly influencing journal articles to hide side effects, new research suggests that children have been placed in harm’s way.
In the October 10th issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association it was reported that 9.2 percent of pediatric spinal fusion surgeries use Infuse, or products very similar to it. Infuse has not been approved for use in children, but off-label use of Infuse has been common since the product was approved in 2002.
Given the fact that Infuse has recently been discovered to have many serious side effects in adults, it is appalling to think of the harm that children may have been exposed to with this off-label usage. Many of the problems associated with Infuse come from long-term excessive bone growth, yet this product was used in children whose bones have not even fully developed.
No public long-term studies have been conducted to determine the product’s safety in children. Infuse’s dangerous propensities should worry any parent of a child who received Infuse. Parents should be hyper vigilant in having any potential health problems evaluated by a physician as soon as possible.
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