Posted: 3/4/2005 8:27:28 PM EDT
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Anyone see the news today. It appears a local cardiologist group implanted a pacemaker that was bought off of ebay into a patient!!! If it wasn't so scary it would be funny. azski |
hope the guy gets a discount or something. 
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Can anyone find a report on this event? Like I said, I saw it on the 10:00 channel 5 News Friday night, 3-4-05. I would love to have a link to the total story. I work in a hospital and for the life of me can not understand how a company can buy a stolen pacemaker from ebay and then implant it.  azski |
heheheheh To crazy. |
Spoke with the guy too. No one except the seller knew it was actually stolen. My question is, "What won't they sale on ebay?". Would they draw the line at 'slightly used' used pacemakers? Oh yea, and they won't sale items that can be used to PROTECT your life. azski |
Hi, Dr. Nick!
Mesa clinic bought stolen pacemaker Device's purchase on eBay spurs inquiry Staff and wire reports Mar. 6, 2005 12:00 AM Authorities are investigating how a pacemaker stolen in Sacramento and purchased from the online auction house eBay by a Mesa medical clinic landed in the chest of a heart patient, as reported in a copyrighted story in Saturday's Sacramento Bee newspaper. The pacemaker, one of four stolen from Sutter Memorial Hospital in Sacramento, was implanted into a patient in December by Dr. Ashok Garg, an employee of Advanced Cardiac Services in Mesa. A 21-year-old nurse's aide who worked at the California hospital was arrested Thursday for stealing the pacemakers. She reputedly presented herself on eBay as a hospital supply retailer and sold at least two of the pacemakers for a little more than $200 each, police said. They are worth as much as $6,000 each. The Arizona Medical Board launched an investigation of ACS and Garg on Feb. 24, when Sacramento police told Arizona health officials about the pacemaker thefts, medical board records show. Medical board officials would not comment on the ongoing investigation, but released draft minutes of a Feb. 25 emergency hearing. On Dec. 10, Garg implanted one of the stolen pacemakers in a patient at an ACS clinic in Mesa, the medical board records show. A second pacemaker was confiscated by Arizona police, the Bee reported. Garg told the medical board he did not know the pacemaker was stolen at the time of surgery because he was not involved with purchasing medical devices, the meeting transcript shows. When he later learned from Medtronic, the company that produces the heart-steadying devices, where the device had come from, he met with the patient, who was not named. The patient is doing well, Garg told the medical board. Stephen A. Wolf, an Arizona assistant attorney general, told the medical board several actions by Garg "indicate that Dr. Garg was trying to conceal that he was implanting the stolen pacemaker in the patient, putting the patient at risk," the transcript states. Contrary to normal operating procedures described by Medtronic and the medical board, Garg did not have a representative from the device company present during the operation, nor did Garg register the pacemaker with the manufacturer, standard procedure for billing purposes. Advanced Cardiac Specialists said in a prepared statement: "Neither the physician who implanted the pacemaker . . . nor anyone else at ACS would have had any way of knowing that a pacemaker contained in a hermetically sealed wrapper may have been the subject of a prior theft." But it was not the first time Advanced Cardiac Specialists shopped for medical supplies on eBay, records show, and a company attorney confirmed the information as well. Greg Etts, the purchasing manager, "had plenty of experience with eBay," attorney Barry Mitchell said. "You can get all sorts of things on eBay, and we look for the best price. That is not illegal." Members of the medical board raised questions about whether Garg had previously implanted a pacemaker from an unusual source. "Dr. Garg inserted a Medtronic pacemaker, mysteriously obtained from Utah, into a patient on August 13, 2003," the transcript said. The board could not comment on whether charges have been brought against Garg or Advanced Cardiac Services. The transcripts states: "Board staff believes that there is a danger to the public . . . if Dr. Garg continues practicing invasive cardiac procedures and requests that Dr. Garg's ability to perform . . . procedures be summarily restricted." State Board of Medical Examiner records indicate Garg has never been sanctioned in Arizona before, but has had one malpractice case that resulted in payment. Sharon Melberg, a member of the bioethics committee at UC Davis Medical Center in Sacramento, said the pacemaker purchase on eBay raised several red flags. "You have to ask what sort of checks and balances there are in place at any facility that would implant a stolen pacemaker," Melberg said. Brad Stone, spokesman for the federal Food and Drug Administration, also raised potential safety concerns about a pacemaker bought on eBay. "When you go outside the traditional distribution route for any medical device, you can no longer be assured that the device was properly functioning, properly handled or properly labeled," Stone said. Chris Donlay, a spokesman for eBay, said, "It's not very common that stolen items are brought to eBay. It's the exact opposite of someone going to a dark alley to fence an item." |