Why not publicize, crowdsource, and gamify medical device use error reporting?
By Marc Egeth The FDA asks “consumers” to report “unexpected side effects after using a medical product, or experiencing other problems with any products that the agency regulates.” This includes “product quality problems and product use errors involving human health care products.” FDA directs “consumers” to MedWatch , which provides on a webform the option to indicate, “Used a product incorrectly which could have or led to a problem.” A few minutes ago – after writing the previous paragraph, but before writing this paragraph – I went to get some lunch. On the way, I saw a man in an electric wheelchair stopped in the middle of a parking lot. I asked if he needed help, he said he did, and I pushed him to an electric outlet nearby. He said he thought he had charged it recently. I thought about asking him about whether he would be reporting his problem to MedWatch, but I figured the odds were basically 0% that is what he would be doing next, and furthermore I did not want t