Sunday Morning Op-Ed Piece

On Friday afternoon, TSB posted a blog about the Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert parody on the recently held Glen Beck Rally in Washington D.C. Not to anyone's surprise, let alone TSB's, the response that we received was indicative of the class warfare and greed that not only exists today within our country, but also within the industry. As TSB has written in the past, desperate times call for desperate measures. Not only is societal hierarchy changing the country, it has changed our industry. These observations are not based on TSB's beliefs, unlike conservative or liberal talking heads, I have no illusions about where this blog stands in the bigger picture. My concerns lies in the numerous e-mails and conversations that we have with the many people that we communicate with, that are crying out, that like this country, we restore some sanity back to an industry that was once respected, and today is frowned upon. If you don't believe TSB, just look at the industry's latest victim, Applied Spine. So why has this occurred? Let's count the ways.

People talk about how the industry has become "cut throat." The fact is that there is no loyalty either by the corporations that run this industry, nor, the gunslingers that have created a wild, wild, west environment culminating in a now or never mentality. This has been a work in progress. A balance within boundaries is vital to anyone's existence. TSB presumes that non of you that are parents allow your children to run wild, or, that you just don't give them everything that they want. But then, maybe some of you do. Yet, somewhere along the way, everything became short-term. This isn't just TSB's opinion, this is yours, the readers, and the hard working people of this industry. As more companies became entrenched with outside investors, execution, revenue, and profits became short-term concepts. Face it, people that deal in money, have a difficult time grasping time when you can measure and execute a financial transaction in hundreds of seconds. The more promises that are made to the Street, or to PE's, the greater the pressure to produce for R&D, the sales managers, and salespeople, regardless whether these forecasts had any substance behind them to begin with. Just look at the collateral damage, Pegasus, Inion, IST, Archus, etc... Today, the legacy companies are grinding their teeth. Not only are early-growth stage companies taking advantage of this environment, but physicians are branching out into an area that will be legally tested sooner rather than later. The by product is a pre-apocalyptic environment that includes discounted pricing, fly-by night me-too products, physician owned-distributorships, physician owned companies, products that are looking for a clinical indication, illegal consultancies, and an outright attack on sales people by physicians, and vice versa. Even as the Street has lowered guidance for the industry, there are still many companies that have not gotten out of the double digit growth mentality, but they're getting there.

So whether you like Jon Stewart or not, whether you believe in what Glen Beck is selling you, take it down a notch and restore some sanity to your lives. Don't be so angry at the world, you work in an industry that affords you the opportunity to make a great living regardless whether you are making the incision, or selling the product. Take some of that negative energy and turn it into something positive this week and you'll be a happier person. And if you should decide to vote for a candidate that has partaken in Satanic rituals, that is your right as a law abiding American citizen. Don't take yourself so seriously, because in the end, we're nothing more than another brick in the wall, if you weren't, you would be providing solutions to the bigger problem at hand. So today, thank whomever is your god that you're healthy, stop grinding your teeth, smile and have a great day, life is good.