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St. Jude wrestles with a skittish marketplace

Article by: JAMES WALSH , Star Tribune
Updated: December 8, 2012 - 8:22 PM

Studies sponsored by competitors question Durata wires' durability.

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callmeronDec. 9, 1211:36 AM

You mean that a product created by imperfect human beings is...is...imperfect? Who'da thunk it? Nevermind the fact that this product improves or saves lives. The thing the lawyers are buzzing about is that there is a small chance of something going wrong, and that means millions of dollars in legal fees. Ka-ching! Oh, and don't forget that the Democratic Party has fought tooth and nail against tort reform so they can keep their rich lawyer buddies raking in the cash so some of it can be donated back to get Democrats elected.

sannemanDec. 9, 1212:27 PM

Ron - you got that right! Just look to the now immortal words of Howard Dean on YouTube when he said that the TRIAL LAWYERS will NEVER go for Tort Reform! The Trial lawyers bankroll the D's and therefore will never reform the system.

dejadoodooDec. 10, 1211:50 AM

callmeron, I think you are way off thinking this article is about politics or tort reform. It’s about potential reliability of a product that, as you have pointed out, is marketed to help save lives. Being part of this industry for 35 years, I know that helping to save lives is noble, but making money is more noble. This might seem crude, but we wouldn’t have this industry if it were any other way. St. Jude, Medtronic and Boston continually spar for market share, and strive to market winning products – not losers. These companies are huge machines that need a constant flow of new products in order to keep the machine running, and the push these days by their customers (the doctors) is for more miniaturization. Miniaturization pushes these “lead” products to marginal material safety regions, and reliability is more difficult to predict or prove. Miniaturization and reliability are not often mutually complementary, and therein lies the trap.