Washington Post Examines Sale Of Used Medical Devices Through Ebay

Main Category: Medical Devices / Diagnostics
Article Date: 23 Dec 2005 - 15:00 PDT

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The auction Web site eBay sells reprocessed medical devices designated for one-time use, and "there is no certain way of knowing where sellers obtained such used medical devices," who purchased them or whether they are used in patients, the Washington Post reports. EBay only requires sellers of state or federally regulated medical devices to add a disclaimer that states individuals should not bid on the products unless they are authorized purchasers. One eBay seller, Jim Stewart of the Granite Group, offers laparoscopic devices used in abdominal surgery, circumcision trays, catheters and biopsy instruments, which are purchased by doctors, veterinarians and others. "We don't take responsibility for items sold on the site. We're a marketplace," eBay spokesperson Hani Durzy said. Larry Spears, FDA deputy director for regulatory affairs in the Office of Compliance in the Center for Devices and Radiological Health, said that the agency monitors Web sites but does not have specific rules about the sale of reprocessed medical devices on eBay. "That's an area we haven't put any writing on," Spears said. Don Selvey -- vice president of regulatory affairs and quality assurance at Alliance Medical, the largest U.S. company that reprocess medical devices -- said, "We don't condone it and certainly don't support" the sale of reprocessed medical devices on eBay. Medical device company Medtronic questioned how medical devices are handled and resterilized before they are sold on eBay and potentially used on patients. "What quality controls are there throughout the process?" Medtronic spokesperson Rob Clark asked.

ClearMedical Case
ClearMedical, one of the five largest U.S. companies that reprocesses medical devices, conducted a three-month study last year in which the company operated an eBay virtual "storefront" that sold reprocessed medical devices considered "non-invasive" -- such as pulse oximeter sensors and compression sleeves -- because they do not enter the bloodstream when used on patients. ClearMedical did not release the results of the study, but company CEO Gregg Bennett said that they were positive and that "we have bigger plans in process." Although ClearMedical cannot confirm the identity of purchasers in every case, Bennett said, "Nobody's concerned about that here. Why would anyone (outside of the medical field) want to buy one of those devices?" (Klein, Washington Post, 12/22).

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