Blue light special: AAA screening at Kmart in the disease-mongering aisle
<http://cardiobrief.org/2010/09/15/blue-light-special-aaa-screening-at-kmart
-in-the-disease-mongering-aisle/#comments> 8
by Larry Husten <http://cardiobrief.org/author/lhusten/> . Uncategorized
<http://cardiobrief.org/category/uncategorized/>
Now, in addition to all the other stuff there, you can go to Kmart and get
screened for abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA). Some people will even receive
free ultrasound tests. The new program, from the Find the AAAnswers
Coalition, was announced on Friday. It's a perfect example of disease
<http://www.ploscollections.org/article/browseIssue.action?issue=info%3Adoi%
2F10.1371%2Fissue.pcol.v07.i02> mongering, the selling of a sickness to
increase sales of a drug or device.
In this case, the expenses of the program and the coalition are entirely
underwritten by Medtronic, which sells abdominal
<http://www.medtronic.com/your-health/abdominal-aortic-aneurysm/device/index
.htm> stent grafts used to repair AAAs, and the members of the coalition
include organizations like the Peripheral Vascular Surgical Society, the
Society for Vascular Surgery, and the Society for Vascular Ultrasound, whose
members may derive a significant portion of their income from performing AAA
repairs and screening.
