Washington insider Scott Whitaker has been named as the new president and CEO of the Advanced Medical Technology Association (AdvaMed). Whitaker replaces Steve Ubl, who left AdvaMed on October 15, 2015 to take over the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers America (PhRMA). Ubl was a very high profile executive and face of the association. It’s not clear if Whitaker will take a similar high profile role.
Whitaker Named New AdvaMed Chief
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AdvaMed is the largest medical device trade association in the world and represents the interests of most orthopedic device makers, among others, in Washington, DC and foreign capitals. The association’s board of directors made the announcement on February 18, 2016. Before accepting the AdvaMed job, Whitaker was the chief operating officer of the Biotechnology Innovation Organization (BIO).
Before BIO, Whitaker worked at the Department of Health and Human Services from 2001 to 2005 under the Bush Administration. He served as Chief of Staff and Assistant Secretary for Legislation. As Chief of Staff, Whitaker managed the day-to-day operations of the Department and led the Department’s activities on all major policy and management issues and initiatives. In addition, he served as the top liaison to the White House on policy, management and political matters. He was nominated by President Bush and confirmed by the U.S. Senate for his Assistant Secretary role at the Department.
According to Whitaker’s LinkedIn page, during his time as Assistant Secretary, he managed the passage of a significant number of legislative victories for the Administration, including the Medicare Modernization Act, the Bioterrorism Preparedness Act of 2002, the Medical Device User Fee and Modernization Act of 2002, and the Project BioShield Act of 2004.
He received a Master’s Degree from Johns Hopkins University in 1999.
Vincent Forlenza, chairman of AdvaMed’s board and chairman and president of Becton, Dickinson and Company (BD), said it is a “time of unprecedented change” in health care. “Medical technology companies are at the forefront of developing solutions that improve patient outcomes and enable the delivery of high-quality, cost-effective care. However, continued progress in these areas depends on ensuring a strong innovation ecosystem. Scott has a proven track record as an association leader, and we believe he has the vision to set the course for AdvaMed’s future.”
For his part, Whitaker said, “Given the many health care challenges throughout the world, it is critical that we work together to create a policy and regulatory environment that will allow this industry to continue to discover, develop and deliver innovative medical technologies to patients.”
His appointment will be effective on April 4, 2016.
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This is a fascinating development. In my practice we've seen similar outcomes with the revised protocol. The key differentiator seems to be patient selection criteria. Has anyone else noticed the correlation with BMI thresholds?
Great point. I'd push back slightly on the conclusion, the sample size in the cited study is too small to draw population-level inferences. That said, the directional signal is compelling and worth a larger RCT.
We implemented a similar approach last year. Early results are promising but we're still gathering 12-month follow-up data. Happy to share our protocol if anyone is interested.
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