Innovation in medical devices targeted toward children occurs much slower than it does for adults, Kurt Newman, MD, president and CEO of Children's National Hospital in Washington, D.C., wrote in an opinion piece for The Hill.
Everyday in pediatric hospitals, surgeons have to use adult devices for children because it is their only option, Dr. Newman wrote.
As an example, Dr. Newman wrote that there is no pacemaker on the market designed for children, though adult-sized pacemakers were introduced in the 1960s and are now a routine procedure for adults.
As a result, children needing a pacemaker have to receive an adult-sized device that is often too large for their bodies and requires open-chest surgery.
Dr. Newman wrote that only 24 percent of lifesaving medical devices approved by the FDA in the past decade are indicated for pediatric use, and the majority of those are for children 12 and older.
According to Dr. Newman, innovation is slower for children's devices because the market is much smaller, which can be an economic deterrent for devicemakers. Designing devices for children is also more difficult because children grow and are very active. Additionally, not all pediatric hospitals are equipped to accommodate trials to test new devices.
Dr. Newman noted that Congress voted to add $1 million to the FDA's 2020 budget to support pediatric device development, but more needs to be done.
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