The New York Times recently shed light on an issue that venture capitalists
are making a regular practice of donating money to lawmakers who are lobbying
for easier medical device approval from the FDA. An example of this is
Rep. Erik Paulsen receiving $74,000 for his campaign from venture capital
fund executives after he gave a warning speech about the FDA regulations
hurting 400,000 jobs due to lost investment in the device industry. The
head of the FDA's medical device department states that the push behind
this reform seems to be more politically driven rather than searching
for a resolution.