Medical Device Daily

Walking the med-tech Red Carpet

April 28, 2011 – 5:13 PM | By Amanda Pedersen | No comments yet

Surgery

A story about DSM Biomedical (Berkeley, California) that appeared in Thursday’s issue of Medical Device Daily drew a comparison between companies like DSM and the film industry’s production crew that works behind the scenes adding invaluable elements to help make the movie a success but are much less recognized and appreciated than the starring cast members.

Posted in Biomaterials | Tagged , , ,

Lack of awareness, education biggest obstacles to innovation

April 22, 2011 – 4:58 PM | By Omar Ford | No comments yet

Nurse giving injection

For nearly eight years my mother has been on anticoagulants. Because of this, she has to drive down to her local hospital every two weeks or so and clinicians test her blood to see if she is in danger of developing a blood clot.

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , ,

Green-eyed with med-tech envy

April 22, 2011 – 4:47 PM | By Amanda Pedersen | No comments yet

I’m not proud to admit this, but once in a while I do get bit by the green-eyed monster – only when it comes to medical innovation though. Hey, nobody’s perfect – right?

Posted in Digestive diseases, Surgery | Tagged , , , ,

Obama, House propose cuts to healthcare as part of deficit reduction plans

April 21, 2011 – 9:02 AM | By Holland Johnson | 1 comment

U.S. Capitol Building

President Barack Obama unveiled his deficit reduction plan last week, calling for a mix of spending reductions and tax hikes that the White House claims would cut federal deficits by $4 trillion over the next 12 years without gutting popular programs such as Medicare and Medicaid, a challenge that may be difficult to achieve given the level of debt in the U.S.

Posted in Federal Deficit, Medicaid, Medicare | Tagged , , , , ,

Quoth the [Patent Reform] Maven; Nevermore?

April 20, 2011 – 6:25 PM | By Mark McCarty | No comments yet

32606_flying_raven_dead_tree

(For those who wonder whether Congress will ever pass a patent reform bill, we offer the following with a tip o' the hat to Edgar Allan Poe....)

Posted in Intellectual Property, Patents | Tagged , , ,

Berwick nomination stymied by poisonous partisan politics

April 14, 2011 – 12:56 PM | By Jim Stommen | No comments yet

 By most objective accounts, Donald Berwick is doing a pretty decent job as chief administrator of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, giving CMS a much-needed shot in the arm and kick in the . . . well, you know.

Posted in CMS, Heathcare Reform, Medicare, Reimbursement, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , ,

The real story: competing markets, not just emerging markets

April 13, 2011 – 5:03 PM | By Omar Ford | No comments yet

Conference board

Often times journalists go into interviews with pretty much a clear picture of what the story is going to be. There are few surprises – that is until that one kernel of information spills from the lips of a source and it completely steers the story in a different direction and gets you to look at a subject differently.

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , ,

TAVR looked upon as next med-tech blockbuster, but is it ready for primetime?

April 6, 2011 – 11:37 AM | By Holland Johnson | No comments yet

medical lab

It’s easy to understand the excitement about the PARTNER trial, sponsored by Edwards Lifesciences (Irvine, California), the company that makes the much talked about transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR) device, called the Sapien. After all, given the choice between open heart surgery or a non-surgical alternative most patients would prefer the latter. However, the data from the study, which was presented earlier this week at the American College of Cardiology (Washington) annual meeting in New Orleans, showed that TAVR patients were also more likely to have a stroke following the procedure.

Posted in Cardiovascular, FDA, Hospital, Surgery | Tagged , , , , , ,

Marketo