MANY specialist doctors in private practice are upset that they have to register all medical devices for clearance by the Health Sciences Autho-rity (HSA) before the items can be used here.
“Medical devices” cover thousands of items, including everything from bandages, digital blood pressure monitors and wheelchairs to condoms, catheters, contact lenses as well as sophisticated heart valves and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) machines.
Specialists say the HSA clearance, made necessary since the beginning of the year, can take several months and cost several thousand dollars.
This has made it both difficult and costlier to bring in new items and doctors say they have already run out of some supplies. Full story
