Michel H.E. Hermans, MD
Michel H.E. Hermans, MD, is an expert in wound care and related topics, trained in general surgery, trauma care and burn care in the Netherlands. He has more than 25 years of (senior) management experience in the wound care industry, with global responsibilities for clinical trialing, medical and medical marketing, M&A, VC support etc. He has conducted a large number of clinical trials, mostly with devices and drugs aimed at wound care and related indications and diseases.
In 2004 he started his own company, which focuses on medical, clinical and medical marketing consulting, primarily in the medical device industry and with wound care as a special field of interest.
He has given more than 450 lectures worldwide and has published more than 200 articles, posters and book chapters, primarily on basic research, clinical and health economic aspects of wound care.
He sits on the industrial board of the ISBI and is reviewer and ad hoc reviewer for a number of journals on wound care, burn care, infection related topics and biomaterials. and a member of many wound and burn care related societies.
He regularly returns back to the clinic, to keep his knowledge and skills up to date.
By Michel H.E. Hermans, MD
Recently I paid a visit to one of the better known wound care centers in the North East. As I expected, treatment of the common lesions seen in this center, such as venous leg ulcers and diabetic foot ulcers, was top notch. The use of compression and...
By Michel H.E. Hermans, MD
At the beginning of a new year, many look back at the previous one in an attempt to analyze what happened, whether it was good or bad or perhaps even special.
By Michel H.E. Hermans, MD
Undertreatment of medical issues is not necessarily bad: palliative care usually only treats symptoms but not the underlying cause of the symptoms which, if the patient wants this, is very appropriate. Remember, Hippocrates said something about...
By Michel H.E. Hermans, MD
Your mortgage company will not be able to hike your interest rate by 500% before the maturity date. If they tried, you could sue them for breach of contract and simply go somewhere else. If Mercedes, Hyundai or Ford hiked their prices by 5000%, you...
By Michel H.E. Hermans, MD
Most of us will treat wounds primarily with Western-medicine techniques and materials, though, occasionally a "side step" is made. MEBO Wound Ointment is a non-Western, botanical cream that is used in the Middle East and the Far East for the management...
By Michel H.E. Hermans, MD
There are a number of general rules in surgery. Among these: dead space has to be avoided. interestingly enough, there is virtually no real scientific documentation about this topic but everybody knows this to be true (in ulcers this, of course, applies...
By Michel H.E. Hermans, MD
In the June 2015 issue of the Journal of Ostomy Wound Management, Bell et al. published an article in which they reacted to the recent decision by CMS (January 22, 2015) to change its HCPCS code for a Manuka honey dressing for Medicare Part B...
By Michel H.E. Hermans, MD
The first time you see your name published as the lead author of an article you are filled with pride. If an article is rejected you are filled with frustration.
By Michel H.E. Hermans, MD
The 10 year old son of friends of mine incurred a gash in his right knee. After the injury, he was able to walk without pain in the leg (the gash did hurt, of course) but was taken to the hospital by ambulance. There, an X-ray of the knee was taken...
By Michel H.E. Hermans, MD
An interesting article in JAMA Internal Medicine (February 2015) by doctors from Massachusetts, Maryland and California (A.B. Jena, M.D. lead author) analyzed mortality and treatment differences in patients who were admitted with cardiovascular...
By Michel H.E. Hermans, MD
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By Michel H.E. Hermans, MD
The 2014 SAWC Fall conference took place in October in Las Vegas. As always, it was good to see colleagues, share thoughts and stories, stroll through the exhibition areas and attend the lectures. As usual, the meeting was well organized although given...
By Michel H.E. Hermans, MD
We, the wound care community, are doing it wrong! We are using FDA approved, expensive diagnostics and treatments while the solution for your diabetic foot ulcers, pressure ulcers, full-thickness burns and keloid scars are on the web and cost peanuts in...
By Michel H.E. Hermans, MD
The CDC recently published encouraging data in the New England Journal of Medicine about a decline in the rate of five major complications related to diabetes mellitus: hyperglycemia, heart attack, stroke, kidney failure and amputations1...
By Michel H.E. Hermans, MD
With a recent acute and serious vision problem, I have had to visit three ophthalmologists (all with different specialties) and a neurologist. I have undergone a series of tests, on the eyes as well as an MRI of the skull, brain and orbita, tests for...
By Michel H.E. Hermans, MD
Merriam Webster defines bias as "selecting or encouraging one outcome or answer over others." The Cochrane handbook states: "The reliability of the results of a randomized trial depends on the extent to which potential sources of bias have been avoided...
By Michel H.E. Hermans, MD
In the first part of this series on the challenges of conducting clinical trials in wound care, I discussed factors that include patient populations and lesion prevalence. Additional criteria and conditions of the clinical trial will be further examined...
By Michel H.E. Hermans, MD
To do a Randomized Controlled Trial within a reasonable time frame, the disease to be studied should be common and the patient population large and accessible. In addition, preferably the effect of the treatment should be fast and specific.
By Michel H.E. Hermans, MD
A recent article in Mayo Clinic's Proceedings studies contamination of stethoscopes. After a standardized physical examination, several parts of the physicians' hand were cultured and the results were compared to cultures of the stethoscope diaphragm...