One of the biggest newspapers in the Netherlands published this article today in their Saturday edition. Mentioned on the front page.
I got several messages from friends and family who saw this. It's actually a pretty big change that this is now in a newspaper here.
(I know it's kind of off-topic, but I hope it can stay up)
In the Netherlands today one of our biggest news sites posted about a heart implant that apparently is faulty and has been causing serious side effects way more often than should be allowed.
The so-called Linox wires of the German company Biotronik break down faster than they should. This can cause unnecessary shocks to patients. This has stood out to cardiologists at home and abroad for years.
And the Dutch cardiology association (NVVC) has been aware of the problems since 2014, but did not inform patients.
"That's not an easy decision," says Michiel Rienstra, vice-president of NVVC. "But these are patients with severe heart disease. We want them to have as much faith in their device as possible.”
Cardiologists worldwide have repeatedly asked Biotronik for clarification about the broken wires over the past decade, but the company denied the problems. The company underpins that denial with a short-term study sponsored by Biotronik itself. While the problems with the threads often arise only after a longer period of time.
When an independent study was published in 2014, Biotronik employees received instructions not to bring up that long-term, according Nieuwsuurto an internal document in the hands of Nieuwsuur: "Do not proactively engage in a discussion about the performance of our Long-term Linox threads." According to Biotronik, the instruction was intended "to avoid discussions about a single study with questionable methodology."
Over the years, ten independent studies showed that the Linox wires break down more often than usual. From a Great Dutch Study(opens in new window) In 2024, more than three times more often than what scientists see as acceptable.
The company, in a response, calls the wires "safe and reliable." "We evaluate the performance of our products throughout their life cycle," Biotronik writes. "For the Linox wires, there are no reasons for a safety warning."
You can read the article here: https://nos.nl/artikel/2614999-fabrikant-negeert-signalen-over-falend-hartimplantaat-patienten-niet-geinformeerd I will post a translated version as well.
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This is the exact same shit that manufacturers of drugs like finasteride, dutasteride, SSRI's and SNRI's do as well.
Bury the truth, deny the allegations, and no one, even f***ing doctor's associations that are supposedly there to help people, DO NOT DO ANYTHING.
I am just so deeply disappointed in my country, the system, the doctors. I grew up thinking doctors were there to help us, but the majority doesn't give a crap, they just want to make more money.
And the denial and marketing of these drug companies is so god damn effective, that my own brother would rather believe that my finasteride side effects are made up by me than believe that these drug manufacturers could have done something wrong and might not be telling the truth.
How does your country or people around you react to finasteride side effects? Do they believe you?