Medical Device Week articles from September 2007

Medical Device Week archives from September 2007

AHRQ report confirms trend: less CABG, more intervention.(Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality)(coronary artery bypass graft)
September 4, 2007... AHRQ report confirms trend: less CABG, more intervention By MARK McCARTY Medical Device Daily Washington Editor The Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (Washington) last week released data from the calendar year 2005 for its...

NIH budget argument mentions competition but no comparison.(National Institutes of Health)
September 4, 2007... NIH budget argument mentions competition but no comparison By MARK McCARTY Medical Device Daily Washington Editor A little flag-waving takes place in a lot of political debates, but it sometimes shows up in the oddest-seeming...

MDD's State of the Industry book offers sector overview.(Industry overview)
September 4, 2007... MDD's State of the Industry book offers sector overview The latest version of our annual overview of the med-tech industry, the Medical Device Daily State of the Industry Report 2007, is now available. The book, which totals just under...

New device weapon added vs. stroke: Concentric's L6 Retriever.
September 4, 2007... New device weapon added vs. stroke: Concentric's L6 Retriever By AMANDA PEDERSEN Medical Device Daily Staff Writer The device systems for immediate stroke treatment are few in number, but that armamentarium received an additional...

Court report.
September 4, 2007... Court report J&J's case vs. Boston Scientific moves ahead with only one claim A Medical Device Daily Staff Report A U.S. court last week dealt a blow to Johnson & Johnson (J&J; New Brunswick, New Jersey) in its $5.5 billion...

Today's MDD food for med-tech thought.
September 4, 2007... Today's MDD food for med-tech thought "Total U.S. investment in health-related research grew by a modest 4.2% from 2005 to 2006, significantly slower than the 6.8% increase in U.S. health costs.' -- From a report by Research!America,...

Financings roundup.
September 4, 2007... Financings roundup Applera set to repurchase $600M in stock from Morgan Stanley A Medical Device Daily Staff Report Applera (Norwalk, Connecticut) reported that, pursuant to an authorization from its board of directors disclosed in...

Deals roundup.(Company overview)
September 4, 2007... Deals roundup RadNet to manage Nydic centers; HEI sells RFID assets to Smartrac A Medical Device Daily Staff Report RadNet (Los Angeles), a provider of diagnostic imaging services through a network of fully-owned and operated...

Agreements.(Caritas Christi Health Care, HealthCare Partners and Premier Alliance)
September 4, 2007... Agreements Talks said in works for transfer of Caritas Christi Health Care A Medical Device Daily Staff Report The Archdiocese of Boston reportedly is in talks with Catholic Health Initiatives (Denver), a hospital chain, to have it...

Briefly Noted.
September 4, 2007... Briefly Noted Consumer conference coming to Chicago New distribution strategies, point of sale and marketing initiatives, and technologies that respond to the diverse needs of consumers are the focus of the 2007 International Consumer...

Grants.
September 4, 2007... Grants HHS to dole out additional $75M to bolster pandemic flu efforts A Medical Device Daily Staff report U.S. Health and Human Services Department Secretary Mike Leavitt reported the department is making available another $75...

Product Briefs.(ImaRx Therapeutics, Oticon Epoq and Sigma-Aldrich)
September 4, 2007... Product Briefs * ImaRx Therapeutics (Tucson, Arizona) said it has received approval from the data and safety monitoring board (DSMB) to proceed with the second dose cohort in its TUCSON (Transcranial Ultrasound in Clinical SONoLysis) Phase...

People in Places.(John Mutch of Aspyra and David Pellone of World Heart)(Brief article)
September 4, 2007... People in Places * Aspyra (Calabasas, California) reported the appointment of John Mutch as chairman of the board of directors, effective immediately. Mutch is the managing partner of MV Advisors, a strategic block investment firm which...

ResMed reports succession plan, appoints Gallahue as future CEO.
September 4, 2007... ResMed reports succession plan, appoints Gallahue as future CEO A Medical Device Daily Staff Report ResMed (San Diego) reported that its board of directors has unanimously approved a succession plan for executive management of the...

Deals roundup.
September 5, 2007... Deals roundup Celera to acquire BHL for $195M, no word on split from Applera By OMAR FORD Medical Device Daily Staff writer Celera (Rockville, Maryland), a business of Applera (Norwalk, Connecticut), yesterday reported an...

Caution is urged in use of DES following myocardial infarction.
September 5, 2007... ESC Congress notebook Caution is urged in use of DES following myocardial infarction A Medical Device Daily Staff Report Though late thrombosis is rare following the use of a drug-eluting stent (DES), such an event can be...

International report.
September 5, 2007... International report Hemosol blood cell substitute may aid sickle cell survival A Medical Device Daily Staff Report Canadian researchers have reported that a new red blood cell substitute from Hemosol (Toronto) improved the...

Report indicates difficulties in definitive asthma assessment.(Report)
September 5, 2007... Report indicates difficulties in definitive asthma assessment By KAREN YOUNG Medical Device Daily Staff Writer Although the number of deaths from asthma has dropped in recent years, this disease remains one of the most common...

Roundup.
September 5, 2007... Roundup Another RHIO bites the dust; top-down approach is blamed A Medical Device Daily Staff Report Some pursuits are replete with a particular kind of lesson, and the same holds for the pursuit of the regional health information...

Today's MDD food for med-tech thought.(Medical Device Daily)(Brief article)
September 5, 2007... Today's MDD food for med-tech thought "It's a noble idea to say 'put the patient first,' but what you have to have are business plans with the provider community." -- John Regula, chair of the defunct Northeastern Pennsylvania...

Financings roundup.
September 5, 2007... Financings roundup ACT closes on private $10 million; Atria gets $207M first mortgage A Medical Device Daily Staff Report Advanced Cell Technology (ACT; Alameda, California) reported that it completed a private placement with...

Agreements roundup.
September 5, 2007... Agreements roundup HistoRx in research accord with RTOG for new AQUA applications A Medical Device Daily Staff Report HistoRx (New Haven, California) reported that it has entered into a research collaboration with the Radiation...

Court report.
September 5, 2007... Court report Owner of DME company guilty of trying to defraud Medicare A Medical Device Daily Staff Report The owner and operator of a Florida durable medical equipment (DME) company and an assisted living facility has been...

Product Briefs.
September 5, 2007... Product Briefs * NovaVision (Boca Raton, Florida) and the Tampa Polytrauma Rehabilitation Center, part of the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, said that veterans and active-duty military members with vision loss due to traumatic brain...

People in Places.
September 5, 2007... People in Places * Linda Davrath has been named head of clinical research and clinical application for BSP Medical (Tel Aviv, Israel). Amir Beker, BSP's CEO, said "Dr. Davrath has vast and valuable experience in the field of...

Less pacing may lower risk of AF for some pacemaker patients.
September 6, 2007... Less pacing may lower risk of AF for some pacemaker patients By AMANDA PEDERSEN Medical Device Daily Staff Writer Less can be more, they say. And it can be true in cardiovascular technology, it seems. Reducing unnecessary...

SCAI issues new SCAAR data, now confident in DES safet.
September 6, 2007... ESC Congress notebook SCAI issues new SCAAR data, now confident in DES safety By DON LONG Medical Device Daily Executive Editor One thing is certain in the cardiovascular segment of med-tech: you aren't going to find any broad...

Report from Europe.
September 6, 2007... Report from Europe New EU medical device directives are implemented in 27 countries By JOHN BROSKY Medical Device Daily European Editor PARIS -- As of the first of the month, the newly revised European directives regulating...

FDA posts March warning for North American in September.
September 6, 2007... FDA posts March warning for North American in September By MARK McCARTY Medical Device Daily Washington Editor FDA is publishing far fewer warning letters these days than it did a decade ago, but the agency seems to have an...

Deals roundup.
September 6, 2007... Deals roundup Ventana in $29M Spring Bio buy; Biomet shareholders OK buyout A Medical Device Daily Staff Report Ventana Medical Systems (Tucson, Arizona), a developer of tissue-based cancer diagnostics, reported that it has...

Today's MDD food for med-tech thought.(Medical Device Daily)(Brief article)
September 6, 2007... Today's MDD food for med-tech thought "Fifteen years ago there was more longevity -- but you have to take into consideration that the healthcare industry was a totally different place back then. Back then, CEOs of hospitals were community...

GE and NCHL in effort to improve leadership in healthcare industry.
September 6, 2007... GE and NCHL in effort to improve leadership in healthcare industry By OMAR FORD Medical Device Daily Staff Writer Less than robust communication and leadership skills are serious problems that have systematically plagued some...

Court report.(Stericycle and SteriCorp )(Brief article)
September 6, 2007... Court report Stericycle, SteriCorp get split interim decision from arbitrator A Medical Device Daily Staff Report Stericycle (Lake Forest, Illinois), a medical waste disposal company, reported receiving interim findings of an...

Financings roundup.
September 6, 2007... Financings roundup Atritech completes $22M round; UltraShape garners $15.1 million A Medical Device Daily Staff Report Atritech (Minneapolis), a clinical stage medical device company, reported that it has completed a $22 million...

Briefly Noted.
September 6, 2007... Briefly Noted IsoRay expansion ahead of schedule IsoRay Medical (Richland, Washington), the manufacturer and distributor of Proxcelan (Cesium-131) seeds used in brachytherapy for the treatment of prostate cancer, plans to transfer...

Agreements roundup.
September 6, 2007... Agreements roundup Tutogen expands partnership with Zimmer Dental overseas A Medical Device Daily Staff Report Tutogen Medical (Alachua, Florida), a maker of sterile biological implant products made from human (allograft) and...

Contracts.
September 6, 2007... Contracts Keane, Capital Health System in clinical installation pact A Medical Device Daily Staff Report Keane (San Ramon, California), a $1 billion-plus global services firm that specializes in enabling transformation of its...

New regulations take different approaches to medical software.
September 6, 2007... New regulations take different approaches to medical software By JOHN BROSKY Medical Device Daily European Editor PARIS -- Software is a significant new area of regulation in the approved European directives for medical devices....

Report tackles key legal cases driving the future of med-tech development.(Brief article)
September 6, 2007... Report tackles key legal cases driving the future of med-tech development A new report from Medical Device Daily examines regulatory, litigation and enforcement issues in the med-tech development process, along with their implications,...

Product Briefs.
September 6, 2007... Product Briefs * Lumen Biomedical (Plymouth, Minnesota) reported FDA clearance from the FDA to market two additional sizes of their Xtract aspiration catheter in the U.S. The Xtract, which is indicated for use in the removal of soft, fresh...

People in Places.
September 6, 2007... People in Places * Jeremy Friedman has been named CFO, executive VP and treasurer of Accellent (Wilmington, Massachusetts). Friedman most recently was senior VP of business development of Flextronics International. Accellent makes...

Financings roundup.
September 7, 2007... Financings roundup IPC files for up to $105 million IPO; Saint Vincent gets $320M facility A Medical Device Daily Staff Report IPC The Hospitalist Company (North Hollywood, California) has filed a registration statement with the...

Washington roundup.
September 7, 2007... Washington roundup HIDA says GPOs were overpaid by $700 million in last 10 years By AMANDA PEDERSEN Medical Device Daily Staff Writer Group purchasing organizations (GPOs) say they save hospitals significant dollars and help...

Report from Europe.
September 7, 2007... Report from Europe 'Terminator' i-Limb Hand a hit with U.S. military medical corps By JOHN BROSKY Medical Device Daily European Editor Some are calling it the "Terminator" hand, although its manufacturer, Touch Bionics...

Medtronic to cut 900 jobs amid slowdown in one of its markets.
September 7, 2007... Medtronic to cut 900 jobs amid slowdown in one of its markets A Medical Device Daily Staff Report Medtronic (Minneapolis) confirmed in a securities filing this week that it will eliminate 900 positions nationwide in a workforce...

FY06 annual report from CDRH cites goals, accomplishments.(Center for Devices and Radiological Health)
September 7, 2007... FY06 annual report from CDRH cites goals, accomplishments A Medical Device Daily Staff Report The FDA's Center for Devices and Radiological Health (CDRH) has posted on its web site its Annual Report for 2006, not unexpectedly rather...

Today's MDD food for med-tech thought.
September 7, 2007... Today's MDD food for med-tech thought "By charging distributors a second fee [of up to 3%] based on the product cost, GPOs appear to 'double dip' -- collecting two product-based fees on the sale of a single product." -- From a new...

PainCare completes $14.4M sales; Siemens extends $7B Dade offer.
September 7, 2007... PainCare completes $14.4M sales; Siemens extends $7B Dade offer A Medical Device Daily Staff Report PainCare Holdings (Orlando, Florida), a provider of pain-focused medical and surgical solutions and services, reported that it has...

Deals roundup.
September 7, 2007... Deals roundup HEI closes asset sale to Smartrac; Aradigm, Lung Rx in license pact A Medical Device Daily Staff Report HEI, (Minneapolis) reported that it has closed on the sale of substantially all of the assets of its RFID...

Grants.
September 7, 2007... Grants NIH slated to fund consortia with $210M over 5-year period A Medical Device Daily Staff report The National Institutes of Health Roadmap for Medical Research will fund nine interdisciplinary research consortia as a means of...

Briefly Noted.
September 7, 2007... Briefly Noted AdvaMed spent almost $1.6M in first half 2007 Advanced Medical Technology Association (Washington) spent nearly $1.6 million in the first half of 2007 to lobby the federal government, according to a disclosure form. ...

Agreements.
September 7, 2007... Agreements Aradigm, CyDex in collaboration for lung disease devices, drugs A Medical Device Daily Staff Report Aradigm (Hayward, California) and CyDex (Lenexa, Kansas) said they have entered a two-year collaboration for the...

Patent watch.(Aperio Technologies)
September 7, 2007... Patent watch Aperio's new patent covers new image pattern recognition method A Medical Device Daily Staff Report Aperio Technologies (Vista, California), a provider in digital pathology for the healthcare and life sciences...

Medical Device Daily Perspectives - What will we say this week?
September 7, 2007... Medical Device Daily Perspectives - What will we say this week?-- Are personal health records the best method for improving health without giving up control? MDD Perspectives takes a broad brush this week to one of the most important...

Product Briefs.(Siemens Medical Solutions, VeriChip and Whatman)
September 7, 2007... Product Briefs * Siemens Medical Solutions (Malvern, Pennsylvania) said that it has added the ImageGrid archive appliance from Candelis (Irvine, California) to its accessory solutions product portfolio. The fully integrated multimodality...

Biopure will submit protocol for Phase II trial for Hemopure.
September 7, 2007... Biopure will submit protocol for Phase II trial for Hemopure A Medical Device Daily Staff Report Biopure (Cambridge, Massachusetts) said that it had recently met with the FDA to discuss the compassionate use protocol submitted by the...

People in Places.(Millstone Medical Outsourcing)(Brief article)
September 7, 2007... People in Places * John Indest was promoted to president/COO of LHC Group (Lafayette, Louisiana). Also, Peter Roman was promoted to senior VP and CFO and Eric Elliott was promoted to director of investor relations. Indest has served as...

ICD registry points to clear need for implant procedure training.(implantable cardioverter defibrillators)
September 10, 2007... ICD registry points to clear need for implant procedure training By DON LONG Medical Device Daily Executive Editor When you implant an implantable device and something goes wrong, what's (who's) to blame -- the implanted device or...

Brain mapping, imaging efforts furthered by NIH, DoD grants.
September 10, 2007... Brain mapping, imaging efforts furthered by NIH, DoD grants By MARK McCARTY Medical Device Daily Washington Editor WASHINGTON -- The fourth annual meeting of the International Brain Mapping and Intraoperative Surgical Planning...

International report.(Biosafety and Biosecurity International Conference)(PreMD)
September 10, 2007... International report F&S report cites growth of S. Korean wound care market A Medical Device Daily Staff Report Noting that South Korea is one of the most developed countries in Asia, global consulting firm Frost & Sullivan (F&S)...

Earlier lung cancer treatment is in reach with inReach scanning.
September 10, 2007... Earlier lung cancer treatment is in reach with inReach scanning By KAREN YOUNG Medical Device Daily Staff Report Not often do you hear lung airways referred to in the same breath with the term "road maps," but that's exactly what...

Patent watch.(Enzo Biochem's case against Applera)
September 10, 2007... Patent watch Enzo Biochem files appeal after judge rules in favor of Applera A Medical Device Daily Staff Report Enzo Biochem (New York) reported that it has filed an appeal of a summary judgment motion in favor of Applera et al....

Today's MDD food for med-tech thought.
September 10, 2007... Today's MDD food for med-tech thought "Lung cancer patients are sort of lost in space; nobody really knows what to do with them." -- Dan Sullivan, president/CEO of superDimension, "Earlier lung cancer treatment is in reach with inReach...

Deals roundup.
September 10, 2007... Deals roundup Kyphon sets October shareholder vote for $3.9B Medtronic merger A Medical Device Daily Staff Report Kyphon (Sunnyvale, California) reported that it has set Oct. 16 as the date of the special meeting of stockholders to...

Agreements.
September 10, 2007... Agreements Hydromer, Ay Tibbi Cizhalar enter into supply, support pact A Medical Device Daily Staff Report Hydromer (Branchburg, New Jersey) reported that it has developed a Supply and Support agreement with Ay Tibbi Cihazlar...

Financings roundup.
September 10, 2007... Financings roundup Pall reports receiving all waivers related to $500M credit facility A Medical Device Daily Staff Report Pall (East Hills, New York) reported that it has received all waivers required to be obtained by Sept. 6...

Large differentials in gender, ethnicity, age in ICD registry.
September 10, 2007... Large differentials in gender, ethnicity, age in ICD registry Clinical trials and registries often are skewed in a whole variety of ways, and some of the more radical kinds are being revealed in the data from the ICD registry just released...

Briefly Noted.
September 10, 2007... Briefly Noted Beth Israel establishes new diabetes center Beth Israel Medical Center (New York) has established the new Gerald J. Friedman Diabetes Institute, which offers state-of-the-art supportive care, education and research in a...

Product Briefs.
September 10, 2007... Product Briefs * Cardica (Redwood City, California) said that two independent groups of cardiothoracic surgeons performed ground-breaking minimally-invasive, closed-chest bypass procedures using Cardica's C-Port Flex A Anastomosis system...

People in Places.(Brief article)
September 10, 2007... People in Places * Lil Anderson, CEO of Deering Community Health Center (Billings, Montana), has been installed as chair of the National Association of Community Health Centers (NACHC; Bethesda, Maryland). NACHC is a non-profit...

More than sacrifices, med-techcan contribute its innovations.
September 11, 2007... The best of all memorials More than sacrifices, med-techcan contribute its innovations By DON LONG Medical Device Daily Executive Editor On this day, of all anniversary days, it seems especially important to look at the...

House votes 'for' patent reform, but Senate seems in less hurry.
September 11, 2007... House votes 'for' patent reform, but Senate seems in less hurry By MARK McCARTY Medical Device Daily Washington Editor The news wires have been abuzz with reports of the passage of the House version of the Patent Reform Act of...

Report from Europe.
September 11, 2007... Report from Europe German insurer ready to launch 7 million policyholder PHRs By JOHN BROSKY Medical Device Daily European Editor and MDD Staff Reports Germany's largest private health insurance provider, Barmer...

Proton beam therapy subject of renewed radiosurgical interest.
September 11, 2007... IBMISPS annual meeting Proton beam therapy subject of renewed radiosurgical interest By MARK McCARTY Medical Device Daily Washington Editor WASHINGTON -- It is no secret that more than one source of energy is available for...

Boston Sci receives warning letter related to AAA stent system trials.
September 11, 2007... Boston Sci receives warning letter related to AAA stent system trials A Medical Device Daily Staff Report The bad news just keeps coming for Boston Scientific (Natick, Massachusetts) as the company received a warning letter from the...

Today's MDD food for med-tech thought.(Medical Device Daily)(Brief article)
September 11, 2007... Today's MDD food for med-tech thought The House bill concerning patent reform would make patents "easier to challenge and cheaper to infringe at a time when America's innovators, manufacturers and workers need stronger patent protections...

Court report.(American Renal Associates and Fresenius Medical Care Holdings)
September 11, 2007... Court report ARA, Fresenius charged with violating antitrust laws by FTC A Medical Device Daily Staff Report Two dialysis clinic operators are under a consent order with the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) after the two companies...

Financings roundup.
September 11, 2007... Financings roundup NanoCor may receive up to $7.5M rom Medtronic for CHF therapeutic A Medical Device Daily Staff Report NanoCor Therapeutics (Chapel Hill, North Carolina) reported that it received an investment from Medtronic...

Deals roundup.
September 11, 2007... Deals roundup iMDs to offer animal testing via its acquisition of Frontier BioMedical A Medical Device Daily Staff Report iMDs (Logan, Utah) reported the acquisition of Frontier BioMedical (Logan, Utah), a company that provides...

Patent watch.
September 11, 2007... Patent watch Grant Life Sciences gets approval for cancer detection patent A Medical Device Daily Staff Report Grant Life Sciences (Los Angeles) reported it has received notice from the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office that Patent...

Agreements.
September 11, 2007... Agreements RMT enters marketing pact with Affiliated Services A Medical Device Daily Staff Report ReBuilder Medical Technologies (RMT; Charlestown, Virginia) reported a marketing agreement with Affiliated Services, (Tampa,...

Contracts.
September 11, 2007... Contracts WPSHI, CMS sign five-year deal; Amicas in offerings to spotlight VSF A Medical Device Daily Staff Report The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) reported that Wisconsin Physicians Service Health Insurance...

Continued progress for 4th iteration of the Gamma Knife from Elekta.(International Brain Mapping and Intraoperative Surgical Planning Society)
September 11, 2007... Continued progress for 4th iteration of the Gamma Knife from Elekta WASHINGTON -- Despite all the promising news about protons, proponents of the Gamma Knife (GK) have a lot to celebrate as well, as made clear in a presentation at last...

Product Briefs.(DePuy Mitek)
September 11, 2007... Product Briefs * DePuy Mitek (Raynham, Massachusetts) reported the launch of Lupine BR and Bioknotless BR, the first suture anchors made from DePuy Mitek's biocryl rapide biocomposite material. Biocryl rapide has been proven in...