Thoughts DermTech (DMTK)

Just to clarify the “hesitation” from doctors and in response to SomeLawerGuys statement that “Wouldn’t the Doctor’s ethical duty/oath to patients guide them the to the route of less-invasive, no matter how stubborn an aging practitioner may be in their ways”

Actually its our ethical duty that prevents us from deviating form the ‘gold standard’ or proven methods. We are CONSTANTLY inundated with new tests, devices, procedures, and medications. Never once have I had a rep tell him his product doesn’t work. Never once have I had them show me studies that didn’t make their product look better. The majority of the studies they show you are not true randomized controlled studies and designed to either be non-inferiority or just plain prove the point they’re trying to make - and it can be hard to tell the difference until you have time to really dig into (shocker, we dont have the time). And on top of that we’ve all been burned by the next new thing that we though would catch on only to look back and laugh at the ‘idiots’ who actually believed such a thing 5 or 10 years ago. IE “can you believe people actually that gastric lap bands would work for weight loss, I can’t believe they did that to patients” and yes, literally noone does lap bands anymore but the company did a very good job promoting promising initial results and its wasnt until 10 years later we saw the complications (erosions, slipped bands, herniated bands, weight regain, infections).

So yes when you have a standard of care that works very well, and excisional biopsies work VERY WELL, its hard to do better and you can really ONLY get burned by switching to it too early. Think about it, the cost of trying a new technology and missing a melanoma (a very treatable malignancy in the early stages) could be metastasis and death. Not to mention a lawsuit and everything that brings with it. The cost of staying with the standard of care which does excellent for a year or two after a slightly better technology comes out. literally nothing. At worst maybe a few more patients that are upset with a small scar. Why would you risk someones life and your career on that outside of a study/trial environment.

All this to say changes in the medical field move slowly by intention, and that’s not a bad thing. If you believe in the product and the science and medical evidence then it will catch on but its always a long game until an explosion occurs and it hits a critical mass of MD users for a critical period of time. Overall the product sounds good but i’ll have to find some time to read up on the outcomes more.

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