I recently shared a blunt thought on LinkedIn:
"I’ve come to the conclusion that everyone in orthopedics ‘says’ they want clinical data, but their ‘behavior’ says they don’t value it.
Tell me I’m wrong.”
The conversation that followed was insightful, with industry leaders weighing in on the disconnect between rhetoric and reality.
Here’s what stood out.
The Talk vs. The Walk
Sean Finnerty, a sales executive in biotech, agreed, pointing to Kuros Biosciences as a rare example of a company backing its claims with Level 1 clinical data. But many others echoed my sentiment. Scott Day from NovaBone and Dan Buerk both said, “You’re not wrong.” Mark Copeland, a value analysis expert, noted that while clinical data boosts sales confidence, it often informs decisions minimally in practice.
Selective Hearing in Science
Russell Bodner, an orthopedic surgeon, hit the nail on the head: “It’s like selective hearing loss. We take only the data that supports what we like to do and disregard the rest.” I couldn’t agree more—it’s almost psychological. We cherry-pick data that confirms our implant choices, ignoring conflicting evidence. This “in my hands” heuristic, as Michael Ormond from Stryker ...
