In case you're wondering, it's for wound debridement...

Don't laugh. There's a lot of credibility here. We are usually so quick to embrace new technology that we are too quick to discount old therapies.

National Briefs - 6/29/04: "WASHINGTON -- The government has lent its seal of approval to marketing an age-old medical device -- leeches. The Food and Drug Administration said Monday that Ricarimpex SAS, a French firm, is the first company to request and receive FDA clearance to market the bloodsucking aquatic animals as medical devices. Leeches are already widely used in American hospitals, and companies that raised and sold them here before 1976 were allowed to continue doing so. However, the medical device law passed that year required newcomers to the field to seek approval."