Researcher Sees Cancer Risk for Medtronic, Inc.'s Infuse
Medtronic Inc's controversial orthopedic product Infuse, a bioengineered bone-growth protein used in spine surgery, is linked to a greater risk of cancer than previously thought, a prominent researcher said on Thursday. Infuse was once hailed as a major advance in spine surgery and is now the subject of investigations by the U.S. Senate and the Department of Justice over omissions of safety problems from its clinical trial data and over off-label use. Infuse also drew intense public scrutiny after the influential Spine Journal, an Elsevier publication, devoted its entire June issue to examining growth products including the recombinant bone morphogenetic protein-2, or BMP-2, as it is more commonly known.