“They’re not for everybody.
I’ve had a few people come to me saying they’re not going to get an MRI or CT scan because they have a digital device, they don’t need it.”
Health Canada’s deputy minister for science, technology and innovation, Michael Smith, said there’s no such thing as a “digital” medical device.
He said the agency is in the process of developing guidelines for health care professionals to follow when dealing with digital medical devices, as well as guidelines for the provinces and territories.
“This is a digital issue,” Smith said.
“I can tell you, this is a very, very important issue.
We’re not just talking about the medical device, this has a tremendous impact on people’s health and on their lives.”
Smith said health care workers have the responsibility to provide care to their patients without the need for a medical device and that some of the devices that are being produced could harm patients and the public.
He also said the use of the word “digital medical” in the name of the technology could lead to legal challenges and confusion in the legal system.
“I think that the name has a lot of legal challenges associated with it, but that’s part of the challenge,” Smith added.
Smith also said Health Canada’s guidelines are based on scientific evidence.
As for the potential for lawsuits, Smith said that the agency does not anticipate litigation in the area of digital medical equipment, but said it does anticipate that there will be some type of liability.
The agency also released a statement saying that the use and disclosure of personal data will be governed by Health Canada policy and guidelines.
Health Minister Rona Ambrose said in a statement that the government has been clear in its intent to develop and adopt standards for digital medical device use, and that Health Canada is in an active collaboration with industry and health professionals to develop these guidelines.
Ambrose said the new guidelines will provide the public with more clarity about what medical devices are and are not for use.
“Health Canada has made it clear that health professionals will be accountable for the use, disclosure and protection of data, and we have a clear, transparent process to provide the information required for our health-care professionals to meet their obligations,” Ambrose said.
A spokesperson for the Ontario government said in an email that health-service providers have been working closely with Health Canada and its counterparts in other jurisdictions to develop the guidelines and that Ontario is committed to using these guidelines as the basis for its digital medical practices.
In the U.S., doctors and nurses have been calling for legislation to make it easier for doctors and other medical professionals to use digital devices, citing the high costs of physical surgery and the need to keep patients in touch.
Dr. James R. Stolz, a professor of medical ethics at the University of Toronto, said the guidelines have the potential to be very useful.
While the devices are new, they have the ability to be implanted in a patient’s body, which is something that’s not possible in the past, because of the high cost of that,” he said.
Dr. Stephen L. Wojciechowski, a former medical officer of health for Ontario, said in the U, the government is still waiting for a decision from the U (National Institutes of Health) on whether it will use the term “digital health” in its guidelines.
He added that the U could change its mind and choose a different term.
Wojcieski, who was not involved in the review, said it’s unlikely that doctors and others in the field will adopt the guidelines in a matter of months, as the government will have to provide clear guidelines for doctors to follow.”
I would think that there is a lot to be excited about in terms of this emerging field of medical devices,” Wojcikowski said.”
It’s not going anywhere.
It’s going to continue to be around for a long time.