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State Representative Tony Cornish
100 Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd.
651-296-4240
For more information contact: Jason Wenisch 651-296-2317
NEWS RELEASE
CORNISH: SURGERIES FROM RECALLED MEDICAL DEVICES SHOULD BE PAID BY MANUFACTURER
ST. PAUL – State Representative Tony Cornish (R-Good Thunder) is authoring legislation that would financially assist patients that are living with defective pacemakers and heart defibrillators. His bill would require the manufacturer to pay for the medical device replacement and the surgery required to make the switch. Currently, manufacturers only pay for the cost of the malfunctioning device, while Medicare, personal insurance, or patients themselves are responsible for surgery expenses.
“Surgeries can cost thousands of dollars, and it’s ridiculous to force patients or a state government program to pay for treatment resulting from a pacemaker manufacturing defect,” Cornish said. “If the company markets faulty medical equipment, it’s only right that it pays for the parts and the labor when a replacement is necessary.”
Cornish authored the measure after being alerted to the problem by a Lake Crystal woman who suffered through a heart defibrillator recall. His legislation would require hospitals to submit charges associated with recalled medical devices – defibrillators, heart valves, pacemakers, joint replacements and hearing devices - directly to the manufacturer for payment. Manufacturers would be responsible for covering up to $100,000 in expenses resulting from the replacement of their faulty medical equipment.
“People forced to use this medical equipment truly face a life or death situation if the product doesn’t work,” Cornish said. “The patient has already paid for one surgery to receive the device; why should they be forced to pay for another due to a manufacturing error?”
Published reports say 24,000 defibrillators have been removed from patients since February because they were defective.
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