Health Industry Today articles from August 1994

Health Industry Today archives from August 1994

Pulse oximetry use spreads, OEMs include in monitor systems. (original equipment manufacturers)
August 1, 1994... In a mature pulse oximetry market where sales of stand-alone units are plummeting, suppliers are cashing in on demand for integrated units and are licensing technology and developing applications for niches such as dentistry, plastic surgery and...

Start-up establishing infectious medical waste disposal system. (CleanTech of Arkansas Inc.)
August 1, 1994... A start-up Arkansas company plans to take advantage of a new technology to address stricter air standards the Environmental Protection Agency is expected to issue this month and is developing the process to be used to destroy biomedical waste....

AMSCO looks to sell laundering subsidiary. (AMSCO International Inc.; Sterile Recoveries Inc.)
August 1, 1994... AMSCO International put a financially ailing subsidiary on the sales block this summer and is prepared to start winding down operations this month if no shoppers offer to buy the reusable linen reprocessing company. Pittsburgh-based AMSCO told...

Metra Biosystems, Norian form orthopedics joint-venture.
August 1, 1994... Mountain View, Calif.-based Metra Biosystems and Norian Corp. formed a joint venture and created Orquest, Inc. to commercialize their mineralized collagen technology, which promotes regeneration of bone. Orquest will enter the orthopedic market...

LifeCell wins patent for blood cell freeze-drying technology.
August 1, 1994... LifeCell Corp., The Woodlands, Texas, received a patent in June for its technology for freeze-drying transfusible cells. The patent broadens LifeCell's patent portfolio to 17 and covers the company's methods for freezing, freeze-drying and...

Medline expands custom procedure tray production with facility in Illinois. (Medline Industries Inc.)
August 1, 1994... Medline Industries, Inc. is building a production facility in Waukegan, Ill. that will more than triple the company's capabilities to produce custom procedure trays. Much of the facilities' business will be to fulfill a $40 million annual...

SteriGenics opens irradiation facility in North Carolina to service Southeast. (SteriGenics International)
August 1, 1994... Contract sterilization firm SteriGenics International, Freemont, Calif., opened a facility in Charlotte, N.C., that features two irradiation cells that corporate officials say is the largest facility of its kind. The facility will service clients...

HCFA issues device reimbursement policy for collagen implant. (Health Care Financing Administration)
August 1, 1994... The Health Care Financing Administration helped boost demand for a collagen implant used to treat stress urinary incontinence by issuing a national reimbursement policy for the device in June. C.R. Bard, Inc., Murray Hill, N.J., received Food &...

Valley Forge Scientific to acquire contract electronics manufacturer. (Diversified Electronics Corp.)
August 1, 1994... Valley Forge Scientific Corp. will acquire an electronics manufacturing company that has been the contract manufacturer of the company's bipolar electrosurgical generators and related instruments for more than 14 years. The Valley Forge,...

American Cyanamid sells Davis & Geck, suture competition to heat. (American Cyanamid Co. Davis+Geck Div.)
August 1, 1994... The acquisition of Davis & Geck, Wayne, N.J., by, B. Braun Melsungen AG of Germany, puts Davis & Geck in a better position to challenge Ethicon Inc., in the suture marketplace. On July 8, American Cyanamid Co., Wayne, N.J., agreed to sell its...

U.S. Surgical secures $400 million revolving credit line. (United States Surgical Corp.)
August 1, 1994... In late June, U.S. Surgical Corp., Norwalk, Conn., reached an agreement for a $400 million unsecured bank revolving credit line running through Jan. 10, 1997. The credit facility was created through a syndication of 23 banks, with Morgan Guaranty...

Colonial broadens corporate name to better represent distribution services. (Colonial Hospital Supply Co.)
August 1, 1994... To better represent its business, Maryland Heights, Mo.-based Colonial Hospital Supply Co. has changed its name. As of July 1, the distributor is known as Colonial Health Care Supply Co. Inc. While Colonial distributes to 1,600 hospitals, the...

Technol acquires two product lines to add to its orthopedic subsidiary. (Technol Medical Products Inc.)
August 1, 1994... Technol Medical Products, Inc., Fort Worth, Texas, added to its line of rehabilitative and industrial safety products with the acquisition of two lines from Irving, Texas-based Rehabilitation Technologies, Inc. The purchase closed on July 1,...

General Medical purchases Foster Medical distribution business. (Foster Medical Supply Inc.)
August 1, 1994... General Medical Corp., Richmond, Va., will expand its alternate site reach with the purchase of the distribution business of Walter, Mass.-based Foster Medical Supply, Inc. Foster distributes medical-surgical supply to hospitals, physician...

St. Jude buys Siemens cardiac pacemaker business. (St. Jude Medical Inc.; Siemens AG)
August 1, 1994... The world's leading heart valve maker, St. Paul, Minn.-based St. Jude Medical Inc., plans to acquire the cardiac pacing device business of Siemens AG for $500 million. The deal will include the Sylmar, Calif.-based Siemens Pacesetter Inc. unit...

Hymedix shifts technology's focus from IOLs disposable contacts to wound care market. (intraocular lenses)
August 1, 1994... Hymedix, Inc., Dayton, N.J., entered the wound care market this year after the Food & Drug Administration gave the company marketing approval for four products. The company, established in 1985 as Kingston Technologies, Inc., concentrated on...

Products maturing, now commodities. (wound care market) (Industry Overview)
August 1, 1994... The country's wound care market, valued at $3.6 billion in 1992, is estimated to exceed more than $5 billion in 1996, according to projections by Find/SVP, New York. Wound closure products, such as adhesives, sutures, staples and staplers, are...

Grid film, lens enhance Polaroid HealthCam instant photographic documentation system.
August 1, 1994... After successfully marketing its cameras and instant film for industrial documentation uses, Polaroid Corp. saw opportunity in the health care industry, promoted its products to providers and now is enhancing its camera system designed for health...

Sony penetrates endoscopic market with water-resistant video camera. (Sony Medical Systems)
August 1, 1994... With the diagnostic imaging market expected to reach more than $13 billion this year, Sony Medical Systems introduced a fluid-resistant surgical camera in May. The division of Sony Electronics Business and Professional Products Group, Montvale,...

Sensor technology could lessen infection risks.
August 1, 1994... In the wake of growing instances of exposure to blood-borne infections, EVA-Health U.S.A., Inc., Woodbridge, N.J., has developed a technology to alert surgeons and nurses to the development of punctures in their surgical gloves and garments....

Clinipad marketing lotion to protect against latex allergic reactions.
August 1, 1994... Allergic reactions to latex gloves among health care workers have prompted Clinipad Corp., Guilford, Conn., to market CliniGlove [TM], a protective hand lotion. Clinipad began offering CliniGlove about a year ago in response to the increasing...

GE launches lease program to entice hospitals to replace x-ray equipment. (GE Medical Systems)
August 1, 1994... Milwaukee-based GE Medical Systems launched a pilot rental program to improve sales of its x-ray equipment in Texas. The "Texas 2002 X-Ray Promotion," offered in GE's South Central Region, is designed to encourage hospitals to replace their aged...

SmithKline, Enteric market test for bacterium associated with ulcers. (SmithKline Diagnostics Inc.; Enteric Products Inc.)
August 1, 1994... SmithKline Diagnostics, Inc., San Jose, Calif., has developed a diagnostic test with Enteric Products, Inc., to detect a bacterium associated with peptic ulcer disease, and SmithKline Diagnostics received Food & Drug Administration clearance to...

Surgicot introduces sterilizer test card with deck of playing cards.
August 1, 1994... Ecological issues surrounding waste disposal prompted Surgicot, Inc., Research Triangle Park, N.C., to start promoting a recently acquired technology for use with pre-vacuum steam sterilizers. Surgicot acquired the Bowie-Dick Test Card from...

Lighting company promotes radiometer to test irradiation. (International Light Inc.)
August 1, 1994... International Light, Inc., is promoting its radiometer that tests the efficiency of germicidal/bactericidal UV lamps. The IL1470 Germicidal Radiometer was developed to ensure the irradiance is effective to kill bacteria. The Newburyport,...

HealthWatch reintroduces controller that can be used with almost any I.V. set on the market. (intravenous)
August 1, 1994... HealthWatch Inc., Vista, Calif., is reintroducing the I.V. controller to the market with the SmartClamp, a product it acquired through a merger transaction with Broomfield, Colo.-based Metamed Inc. completed in September 1993. HealthWatch is...

New generation of advertising educates docs with material to be passed along to consumers. (Industry Overview)
August 1, 1994... Shake-outs and shake-ups are nothing new to the pharmaceutical industry. And today, more than ever, the same unsettling events are affecting manufacturers and marketers of devices and diagnostics. Companies that traditionally have directed their...

Engineered resins have best cost advantages.
August 1, 1994... U.S. demand for medical plastics will increase slightly more than 3% per year to 3 billion pounds in 1998, valued at $3.3 billion. The Freedonia Group, Inc., Cleveland, anticipates the strongest growth opportunities to exist among engineered...

Waste management market to double by 2000. (medical waste) (Industry Overview)
August 1, 1994... The U.S. medical waste management and disposal market will growing at an 11% compounded annual rate, doubling from $637 million in 1993 to nearly $1.3 billion by 2000, according to a recent market study by Frost & Sullivan, Inc., Mountain View,...