By Christopher White, Chief Operating Officer, General Counsel and Secretary at AdvaMed
Note: This article was originally published on LinkedIn on September 2. View the original post here.
For many in the United States, Labor Day signifies the unofficial end to summer—a final holiday before kids return to school and leaves begin to change color. But amidst an unprecedented public health emergency, Labor Day 2020 presents a special opportunity to pay tribute to the health care workers and medtech innovators on the front lines of the fight against COVID-19.
These national heroes are working around the clock to meet the needs of their patients. America’s doctors and nurses undoubtedly merit our deepest gratitude and admiration for being at the forefront of our pandemic response. They also merit our strongest support. It’s a good thing AdvaMed’s members are right there with them:
- Medtronic publicly shared design specifications for its portable, compact ventilator to increase global ventilator production.
- B. Braun, Baxter, and other medtech companies increased production of IV catheter and sets to administer medicine to COVID-19 patients.
- Hologic developed and produced molecular diagnostic testing for COVID-19, and Roche developed and produced antibody testing for COVID-19.
- Stryker and other medtech companies increased production of critical PPE and figured out ways to decontaminate used PPE.
- Johnson & Johnson and other medtech companies are actively working on a COVID-19 vaccine.
- BD developing vaccine delivery capacity
- And many more!
As I discussed a few weeks ago, the global medtech industry continues to play a crucial role in combating COVID-19, innovating at record speed, producing millions of diagnostic tests each week, increasing production of ventilators and other critical care technologies overnight, and distributing billions of units of protective gear. In support of the medtech industry’s continued efforts to save lives during the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic and beyond, AdvaMed’s #MedTechMobilizes movement—a grassroots campaign—has never been more proud and more resolute to advocate for patient access to innovative technologies.
On this upcoming Labor Day, September 7, 2020, please join me in honoring our frontline health care workers and medtech innovators for their dedication and sacrifice. To my colleagues and our members, we salute you!