Amy Baxter

At TEDMED 2014, pediatrician and entrepreneur Amy Baxter challenges us to talk more openly about needle pain and how it can impact the health of our children.

“I believe established medicine is courting a public health disaster, not because of costs or lawsuits or one dumb publication from a scientist gone bad, but because of a national Pavlovian failure of empathy.” — Amy Baxter

ABOUT AMY

Emergency pediatrician Amy Baxter noticed a disconnect in health care: caregivers often cause pain to solve a problem, but for many patients, pain is the problem. While researching the causes and consequences of untreated pain, she invented Buzzy, a bee-shaped device that physiologically takes the sting out of shots using high frequency vibrations and cold. Amy is the director of Emergency Research for Pediatric Emergency Medicine Associates at Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta, Scottish Rite. In the academic world, she is known for creating and validating the BARF nausea scale for children, and an algorithm to measure the timing of child abuse. Honors include a 2011 Medical Design Excellence Award, Georgia Bio Innovative CEO of the Year, and a Wall Street Journal “Idea Person.”