Chapter 22. Health Devices

Medical devices include several thousand types of health products, from simple articles to complex medical equipment. Federal laws define "medical device" as any health-care product that does not achieve any of its principal intended purposes by chemical action in or on the body or by being metabolized. The general quality of professionally used medical devices is high.

The devices commonly used by consumers include eyeglasses, contact lenses, and hearing aids. Purchase of these products should be preceded by a thorough professional examination. Since prices vary considerably, comparison shopping may also be wise.

Some devices have been marketed with misleading claims. Some hearing aid manufacturers and salespeople have exaggerated what hearing aids can do. Scare tactics are often used to sell water-treatment devices that are unnecessary or overpriced. Quack devices are still a significant problem-especially the "electrodiagnostic" devices used by certain "alternative" practitioners.