Health Industry Today articles from March 1994

Health Industry Today archives from March 1994

Capitated purchasing agreements changing roles of buyers, sellers. (health care industry vendors) (Market Memo)
March 1, 1994... Manufacturers, distributors and group purchasing organizations are closely watching two regional distributors offering capitated purchasing agreements, since many believe the success and acceptance of the agreements may change the roles and...

U.S. Surgical facing more financial hurdles; jury rules against patent infringement suit. (U.S. Surgical Corp.) (Market Memo)
March 1, 1994... U.S. Surgical Corp. (USSC), Norwalk, Conn., faces yet another series of hurdles as the company's finances deteriorate further, sales continue to drop and a jury rules against USSC's claim that Johnson & Johnson's Ethicon Endo-Surgery division...

Owens & Minor's purchase of Stuart proceeding. (Owens and Minor Inc.; Stuart Medical Inc.)
March 1, 1994... Owens & Minor, Inc., Richmond, Va., will confer in detail with Stuart Medical regarding the consolidation of employees and distribution facilities now that the U.S. Justice Dept. has completed its antitrust review of Owens & Minor's purchase of...

Medical Action's sales soar as Kendall and Medline recall lap sponges. (Medical Action Industries Inc.; Medline Industries Inc.)
March 1, 1994... In an ironic turn of events, sterile laparotomy sponges were voluntarily recalled in January by two of the nation's leading importers of Chinese gauze, resulting in nearly doubled sales that month for industry leader Medical Action Industries,...

Abbott discounts 200 high-volume items in full-line deal. (Abbott Laboratories)
March 1, 1994... Abbott Laboratories, Abbott Park, Ill., signed a five-year agreement worth nearly $1 billion with Dallas-based Voluntary Hospitals of America, Inc. (VHA). The agreement takes effect in June, and gives VHA members access to 600 line items, with...

Acuson responds to 15% sales drop with new Aegis system division. (Acuson Corp.)
March 1, 1994... In response to a 15% drop in sales during the first nine months of 1993, Acuson Corp., Mountain View, Calif., established the Aegis Division to exclusively handle the development, sales and service of the company's hottest selling product, the...

Picker named preferred vendor and wins UHC contract award. (Picker International Inc.; University Hospital Consortium)
March 1, 1994... Picker International, Cleveland, was awarded a two-year agreement by the University Hospital Consortium (UHC), Oakbrook, Ill., for computed tomography (CT) and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) systems. The agreement took effect in January. ...

LifeCell seeks Medtronic's experience for new product development. (LifeCell Corp.; Medtronic Inc.)
March 1, 1994... LifeCell Corp., The Woodlands, Tex., signed a nonbinding agreement-in-principle for Medtronic, Inc., Minneapolis, to have the exclusive rights to develop and distribute LifeCell's experimental porcine tissue heart valves. The final agreement is...

Roche and Perkin-Elmer accelerate development of PCR technology. (Roche Molecular Systems Inc.; Perkin-Elmer Corp.; polymerase chain reaction)
March 1, 1994... Life Technologies, Inc. (LTI), Gaithersburg, Md., was granted a license by Roche Molecular Systems, Inc., Branchburg, N.J., and The Perkin-Elmer Corp., Norwalk, Conn., to manufacture and sell the companies' Taq DNA polymerase and other...

Becton Dickinson renews with AmHS; deal covers lines of 8 BD companies. (Becton Dickinson and Co.; American Healthcare Systems)
March 1, 1994... Becton Dickinson and Co., Franklin Lakes, N.J., signed a five-year renewal agreement with San Diego-based American Healthcare Systems (AmHS) that covers all products produced by eight Becton-Dickinson divisions. The agreement took effect in...

Medline increasing reusable usage with HLS surgical pack agreement. (Medline Industries Inc.; Hospital Laundry Services)
March 1, 1994... Medline Industries, Inc., Mundelein, Ill., agreed in November to collaborate with Chicago-based Hospital Laundry Services (HLS), a laundry cooperative owned by 16 Chicago-area hospitals, in an effort to boost Medline's sales of reusable...

Lilly companies may prosper with new independence. (Eli Lilly & Co. plans to spin off medical device businesses)
March 1, 1994... Nine medical device companies with combined annual sales of $1.2 billion are seeking new strategic directions as Indianapolis-based Eli Lilly & Co. decided in January to spin off or sell the companies. Lilly wants to generate immediate cash to...

Kodak renews agreement with Purchase Connection.
March 1, 1994... Eastman Kodak Co., Rochester, N.Y., signed a five-year renewal agreement with Los Angeles-based Purchase Connection that covers the company's entire line of radiology film and associated products. The agreement took effect in January. ...

Promotional literature that gets you sales. (includes related article) (Smith's Sales Strategies)
March 1, 1994... A key element to trade show sales success is your literature strategy--how you use brochures, flyers and sales collateral at the show. What is it that you hand to show visitors? How do you make it effective? How do you make sure that you're not...

Potential changes: capitation's effect on sales and purchasing. (capital agreements brokered by health care industry distributors)
March 1, 1994... Capitated agreements may allow distributors to wield more power in the supply chain. One potential outcome is that a distributor will no longer be a mere contractor of the GPO and facility, but the actual broker between the facility and...

Baxter International Inc. (sales statistics) (Year-End Result)
March 1, 1994... For such a politically turbulent year in the health care industry, sales were relatively high for many of the nation's leading manufacturers of medical supplies. Baxter International, Inc., Deerfield, Ill., reported record sales of $8.9...

Johnson & Johnson. (sales statistics) (Year-End Result)
March 1, 1994... Sales from specific international markets reported strong increases for Johnson & Johnson, New Brunswick, N.J. While J&J's U.S. sales increased 4.3% for the year, sales rose 9.9% in the Western hemisphere and 13.4% in the Africa-Asia-Pacific...

Kendall Healthcare Co. remains solid. (Kendall International Inc.; sales statistics) (Year-End Result)
March 1, 1994... International sales were flat for Kendall International, Inc., Mansfield, Mass. For 1993, Kendall's international sales declined 0.36% to $137.3 million from $137.8 million in 1992. However, sales for the Kendall Healthcare division grew 6.3%...

Abbott's domestic sales rise more than international. (Abbott Laboratories) (Year-End Result)
March 1, 1994... International sales for Abbott Laboratories, Abbott Park, Ill., rose 1.6% to $821 million. Domestic sales grew substantially faster at 9.2%, reaching $1.41 billion. Overall, Abbott's sales increased almost 6.2% in 1993 to $2.23 billion from...

3M's sales short of expectations. (Year-End Result)
March 1, 1994... Sales in 1993 for 3M, St. Paul, Minn., were up almost 1% from 1992. Sales were slightly over $14 billion in 1993, compared with 1992 sales of nearly $13.9 billion in 1992. "While our 1993 results fell short of our long-term objectives, our...

LifeCell enters $1 billion skin graft market with AlloDerm. (LifeCell Corp.) (Product Strategies)
March 1, 1994... LifeCell Corp., The Woodlands, Tex., introduced AlloDerm, the first commercially available processed allograft dermal skin tissue that surgeons can use for skin grafts when their patients are without enough of their own skin for suitable...

Oxboro-Medical's cuff protector to profit from new FDA regs. (Oxboro-Medical International Inc.) (Product Strategies)
March 1, 1994... Oxboro-Medical International, Inc., Ham Lake, Minn., introduced its Tourniquet/B.P. Cuff Protector in February, a disposable protective cover for any reusable blood pressure cuff, in anticipation of tighter Food and Drug Administration...

Philips' color ultrasound system directly measures blood flow. (Philips Medical Systems Inc.) (Product Strategies)
March 1, 1994... Philips Medical Systems, Shelton, Conn., plans to launch its new CVI-Q (Color Velocity Imaging-Quantification) system in April as the first color ultrasound system on the market that can directly quantify the velocity and volume of blood flow...

Varian responds to complaints of high noise with new products. (Varian Associates Inc.) (Product Strategies)
March 1, 1994... In response to customer demand for less noise, Varian Assoc., Inc., Palo Alto, Calif., introduced the Varian HE100 family of X-ray tube heat exchangers, whose noise levels have been reduced to 54 dB, lower than the 60 dB volume of typical heat...

NDM retractors to increase number of procedures done endoscopically. (New Dimensions in Medicine) (Product Strategies)
March 1, 1994... New Dimensions in Medicine (NDM), Dayton, Ohio, introduced a line of reusable retractors in January that the company hopes will increase the number of procedures that surgeons can perform endoscopically. The Endoflex line consists of 14...

Kershenstine hoping users will pay more for added safety of needles. (Kershenstine Medical Inc.) (Product Strategies)
March 1, 1994... Kershenstine Medical, Inc., Metairie, La., is promoting its Turtle TS-1 Self-Locking Safety Syringe, which was released in February, as the only syringe system on the market that automatically protects against needlesticks. The TS-1 is the...

Magna-Lab Inc. (awaiting clearance for its magnetic resonance imaging scanner) (Around the Industry)
March 1, 1994... Magna-Lab Inc., Hicksville, N.Y., is awaiting Food & Drug Administration clearance for its Magna-SL, a magnetic resonance imaging scanner that could be the forerunner of similar machines and could force other companies to produce the smaller,...

Baxter Healthcare Corp. (usage of left ventricular assist system) (Around the Industry)
March 1, 1994... In January, for the first time, a patient supported by Deerfield, Ill.-based Baxter Healthcare Corp.'s wearable left ventricular assist system (LVAS) was discharged from the hospital--in this case the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center....

Fischer Imaging Corp. (development of digital mammography unit) (Around the Industry)
March 1, 1994... Fischer Imaging Corp., Denver, announced progress in its development of a digital mammography unit and presented the work at the Congress of the Radiological Society of North America in Chicago to solicit feedback from attending radiologists...

SpectraScience, Inc. (files clearance to market its Coronary Guidewire) (Around the Industry)
March 1, 1994... SpectraScience, Inc., Minneapolis, filed a 510(k) notification with the Food & Drug Administration seeking clearance to market its Coronary Guidewire. The SpectraScience guidewire incorporates an optical core which will allow the wire to be...

CryoLife, Inc. (submits application for CyroValve) (Around the Industry)
March 1, 1994... CryoLife, Inc., Atlanta, submitted a premarket approval application to the FDA for CryoValve, its cryopreserved allograft heart valve for human transplantation. The application is based on a study of clinical experience involving 822 patients...

Sonus Pharmaceuticals. (testing of imaging agent EchoGen) (Around the Industry)
March 1, 1994... Results from two independent animal studies showed that the imaging agent EchoGen, manufactured by Sonus Pharmaceuticals, San Diego, provided dense contrast or "myocardial opacification," allowing for the assessment of cardiac chamber size,...

Thermo Cardiosystems, Inc. (announces FDA review of its air-driven left ventricular-assist device system) (Around the Industry)
March 1, 1994... Thermo Cardiosystems, Inc., Woburn, Mass., announced that the FDA's Advisory Panel on Circulatory System Devices is reviewing the company's air-driven left ventricular-assist device (LVAD) system. The review is a milestone in the company's...

Producer Price Index up 0.2% in January. (medical equipment and supplies) (Around the Industry)
March 1, 1994... January % change % change Category unadjusted from previous from previous index month year Blood transfusion and I.V. equipment ...

HIMA report defends rising cost of medical devices. (Health Industry Manufacturers Association) (Around the Industry)
March 1, 1994... A Health Industry Manufacturers Assn. report challenges assertions that price changes in medical technology are driving the increases in health care spending. But the report also predicts American medical manufacturers will face major...

James Tobin. (appointed president and CEO of Biogen Inc.) (Newsmakers)
March 1, 1994... James Tobin was named president and chief operating officer of Biogen, Inc., Cambridge, Mass., in January. Tobin is the former executive vice president of Baxter International, Inc., Deerfield, Ill. Tobin will be responsible for Biogen's...

Bioject. (Bioject Medical Systems Ltd. appoints Arthur S. Przybyl as vice president of sales and marketing) (Newsmakers)
March 1, 1994... Bioject, Portland, Ore., named Arthur S. Przybyl vice president of sales and marketing. He will continue to lead the company's introduction of its needle-free injection system. Przybyl replaces Richard B. Hollis, who resigned from his position...

Vision Sciences. (names Marcel Basse as vice president of sales and marketing) (Newsmakers)
March 1, 1994... Vision Sciences, Natick, Mass., promoted Marcel Basse to vice president of sales and marketing. His responsibilities include sales management, sales administration, and management of a marketing program whose functions include product...

Miles, Inc. (names Caren Mason as vice president of marketing and business development, diagnostic imaging systems) (Newsmakers)
March 1, 1994... Miles, Inc. appointed Caren Mason to the newly created position of vice president, marketing and business development, diagnostic imaging systems, for the Agfa Division of Miles. Reporting to John F. McGlynn, senior vice president of Agfa...

Staodyn, Inc. (appoints James A. Brooks as vice president of sales and marketing) (Newsmakers)
March 1, 1994... Staodyn, Inc., Longmont, Colo., appointed James A. Brooks vice president of sales and marketing. Brooks brings to Staodyn more than 20 years of medical product sales, marketing and operations experience. Most recently he was senior vice...

Robert C. Fenwick. (appointed vice president for marketing of Marquest Medical Products Inc.) (Newsmakers)
March 1, 1994... Robert C. Fenwick joined Marquest Medical Products, Inc., Englewood, Colo., as vice president-marketing. Fenwick brings 12 years of health care experience to his new position. Strengths include marketing team management, strategic planning,...

Medtronic, Inc. (appoints Arthur D. Collins Jr. as COO)
March 1, 1994... Medtronic, Inc., Minneapolis, appointed Arthur D. Collins Jr. chief operating officer. Collins will report to William W. George, president and chief executive officer. Collins, formerly executive vice president and president of Medtronic...

MKM Healthcare Corp. (appoints Terry Small as director of managed care accounts)
March 1, 1994... MKM Healthcare Corp., Huntingdon Valley, Pa., named Terry Small national director of managed care accounts. He will be responsible for contracting MKM as the medical care supplier to various health care groups. Small previously served as...