Patriots and Pinheads in the Mmedical Sector are a Reality

Among my favorite news talk shows is "The O'Reilly Factor" on Fox News. Even though the host, Bill O'Reilly, contends that his program is the "no-spin zone", he does have an uncanny ability to put his own spin on many controversial topics. There is, however, one segment of the program where O'Reilly's no-spin truly applies. This segment is called "Pinheads and Patriots"; it recognizes individuals that do or say incredibly stupid things, as well as people who demonstrate outstanding behavior and concern for others.

Because this particular segment of "The O'Reilly Factor" is thought provoking, delivers insights into the world in which we live, and deals with individuals that affect our lives either in a positive or negative manner, I am going to borrow O'Reilly's format to express overdue gratitude and concern to a few medical industry professionals.

In the April 2008 issue, I wrote an editorial concerning the challenges and cost constraints to designing and manufacturing medical devices for children. By the amount of emails I received on this, I have no doubt that most readers identified with the problem in a very positive way. In particular, I would like to recognize Dr. Malcolm Coulhard, along with senior children's kidney nurse Jean Crosier, from Newcastle's Royal Victoria Infirmary in the U.K. as Medical Patriots. Working on their own time, Coulhard and Crosier designed and constructed a scaled-down version of a conventional dialysis machine from scratch to save a newborn baby from dying of kidney failure.

Patriot recognition in the medical device sector also goes to Donald Lombardi, chief executive of The Institute for Pediatric Innovation. Lombardi left Children's Hospital Boston and founded the Cambridge, MA-based nonprofit institute in 2006. Since that time, he has built partnerships and raised money to help achieve the institute's mission of redesigning drugs and devices to better fit children.

As for Pinheads, I am selecting Dr. Susan Mitchell, a senior scientist with the Harvard-affiliated Hebrew Senior Life Institute for Aging Research in Boston. She co-authored a study suggesting that antibiotics are overused in people dying of dementia diseases and because of the growing problem of drug-resistant superbugs, doctors need to curb the liberal approach to prescribing them. Mitchell needs to understand that the answer to reducing or eliminating drug resistant bacteria is not in denying treatment to those who need it. Her time would be better spent developing improved antibiotics, or perhaps finding a cure for Alzheimer's disease.

I'm sure there are many more Medical Patriots and Pinheads that deserve recognition. So if any come to mind, please email me — tgrasson@gie.net — with your nominations.