CNN reports on MelaFind, a handheld medical device that helps doctors spot melanoma using a noninvasive computer imaging. But it is still not approved by the Food and Drug Administration, and may not be. The agency refused to take the next step to approval in 2009, even though the machine was on the fast-track. Uncertainty strangles innovation says one observer.
The balancing act of protecting public health versus the industry’s push to get new products to market was not helped by the Vioxx/Merck, GSK/Avandia scandals. Read more here.