Episode 37 | Dr. Amy Baxter, CEO of Pain Care Labs | Why the Adoption of New Medical Technology Takes So Long

In this episode, Amy and I discuss Pain Care Labs, her apperance on shark tank, why the adoption of new medical technology takes so long, hurdles when taking a product to market, and more.  

Dr. Amy Baxter Bio: As Founder and CEO of Pain Care Labs Pain Relief, Dr. Amy Baxter’s mission is to eliminate unnecessary pain.

She invented and patented VibraCool® Vibrating Cryotherapy to treat tendinitis and decrease opioid use, and her Buzzy® device has been used to control needle pain for over 32 million needle procedures. She has been named a Healthcare GameChanger, Healthcare Transformer, Wall Street Journal “Idea Person”, Most Innovative CEO of the Year by GA Bio, a Top 10 Disruptors in Medical Tech, and “Top Women in Tech to Watch” by Inc. She is currently developing a wearable VibraCool Low Back pain reliever to accompany VibraCool Knee Pain and VibraCool Elbow Tendinitis Relief, and exploring regenerative implications of thermal and vibratory energy.

After graduating from Yale University and Emory School of Medicine, she completed pediatrics residency and child abuse and emergency pediatrics fellowships. Prior to becoming a full-time CEO, double-boarded pediatric emergency physician Dr. Baxter founded and directed PEMA Emergency Research, Scottish Rite, Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta.

Federally funded for her work in needle pain management, she has published multiple first author papers and textbook chapters and lectures nationally and internationally on sedation, procedural pain management, and the incidence, cause and consequences of needle phobia. To develop her neuromodulation pain reduction platform, Dr. Baxter was awarded a 1.1MM Fast-Track SBIR by the NIH. She wrote the patents for cooling and vibration utilization to decrease pain, and prepared and filed the FDA 510K submission for medical devices, securing the FDA expansion of the utilization to include muscle pain and cosmetic injection pain control.

A founding Board Member of the Society for Pediatric Sedation, additional experience includes the Standish board for hospital pain relief, Trustee of the Robert A. Heinlein Butler Library, Editorial Boards of Medscape and Elsevier Pediatrics, and Board Member of the International Women’s Forum Georgia Chapter. She has been named a Fellow of the American Academy of Pediatrics and the American College of Emergency Physicians. Dr. Baxter reviews for multiple scholarly journals, conferences, and national and international grant boards.

Speaking venues include Exponential Medicine, Bloomberg, Converge, AARP Life at 50+, TEDx and TEDMED. Dr. Baxter is known for creating and validating the BARF nausea scale for children with cancer. She is also known for turning down Mark Cuban, Robert, and Mr. Wonderful on Shark Tank.