On the other hand, patients invariably request the best available treatment, thus constantly placing surgeons between a rock and a hard place. Industry Industry has a profit-driven agenda, and it seems that little help can be expected from this quarter. It should not come as a surprise that the first goal of industry is to put the most competitive product on the market that will maximize profits for the shareholders. We are all grateful to corporations for their many contributions to progress in medicine. However, they are capitalists and not necessarily altruists.
Market forces more than societal needs drive the corporate philosophy.
Marketing hype also confuses the issue by making logical choices more difficult, as exemplified by laparoscopic hernia repairs. If we are not critical enough, our institutions, and in the end the consumer, wind up paying part of the bill. We should not be offended or surprised by these truisms. These issues need to be addressed to help our institutions avoid the mistakes of investing in the wrong technology. For example, in minimally invasive surgery, contradictory corporate arguments are made to justify acquisition of reusable, limited reuse or single-use surgical instruments.