Shaky dentures, torrential, breast implants, faulty heart pacemaker: Physicians have few opportunities to learn about potential risks from medical products. Which doctor, which patients used a prosthesis, is not collected centrally. In the worst case, risks remain undetected. In Germany, in 2017, more than 14,000 deaths, injuries, and other complications associated with medical devices were reported.
A national Register for implants to give the patient more security. The Federal Cabinet approved on Wednesday the law draft of the Federal Minister of health, Jens Spahn (CDU) for the establishment of an implant register. “As a result, we know in the future who has which implant,” said Spahn. “If we find problems with a product, we can then check quickly whether there are similar cases and in case of doubt, patients warn.”
The data could, for example, to determine how long the implants in the body can remain, how good their quality is and if it is in certain hospitals frequently encounter problems.
The German Institute for Medical documentation and Information (DIMDI) will take over the data collection. As an independent Trust estimated the Robert Koch Institute will ensure that all personal data will be provided with a Pseudonym.
Expected to be available from mid-2021 the hip joint and knee – joint replacements and breast implants should be able to as the first implants. The law is in the Federal Council, subject to approval, proclaimed to be the end of the year.