Washington, D.C. –   On the Medtech POV podcast, AdvaMed President and CEO Scott Whitaker sat down with recently retired U.S. Rep. Brad Wenstrup of Ohio, discussing lessons learned from the COVID-19 pandemic, illogical budgetary scoring of health care procedures, and Wenstrup’s life-saving triage of U.S. House of Representatives Majority Leader Steve Scalise after a shooting. 

Wenstrup is a podiatric surgeon, a colonel in the U.S. Army Reserve, and an Iraqi War veteran. He served as the U.S. representative for Ohio’s 2^nd congressional district from 2013 to early 2025, with service on the Ways and Means and Intelligence committees. He chaired the Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Pandemic and urged listeners to read the subcommittee’s final report recommendations. 

“They’re nonpartisan. They just make sense for America,” Wenstrup said. “Those are the lessons learned from along the way. I’m not trying to cast as much aspersion on those that were trying to do the right thing, but let’s do better next time from the lessons learned.” 

Wenstrup was the lead Republican co-sponsor of the bipartisan Ensuring Patient Access to Critical Breakthrough Products Act, H.R. 1691 in the last Congress, to give Medicare beneficiaries faster access to safe, effective, FDA-designated breakthrough medical devices. The Ways and Means Committee approved the bill, and AdvaMed will seek re-introduction and enactment in the new Congress. 

Wenstrup advocates for common sense in the congressional scoring and insurance coverage, including Medicare, of medical procedures and treatments. Current consideration downplays the cost savings of preventive measures and cures that might be costly at the outset but provide considerable cost savings over a patient’s life and even more importantly, restore the patient to wellness, Wenstrup said. 

“We’ve got to be patient centric,” he said. “There is a return on investment. If you have some new technology or innovation, that even if it’s a device for the rest of your life, but it allows you to go back and live your life and go to work and raise your family, that’s a pretty good return on investment.”  

Wenstrup details his experience treating Scalise moments after Scalise’s shooting on a baseball field in 2017.  

“Steve is such an amazing guy,” Wenstrup said. “Tremendous courage through all that, never complained, multiple surgeries and everything else, and he just keeps on going. He always says, oh, Brad, you’re my hero, and I’m like, no, you are mine, because I don’t know how many people that have had the strength and courage that he has.” 

To hear the full conversation, download the Medtech POV podcast on Spotify,  Apple Podcasts or wherever podcast streaming is available. Visit AdvaMed’s website for more information on the podcast and past guests.