MASSDEVICE ON CALL — Med-tech titan Medtronic (NYSE:MDT) is expanding its operations at facilities in Galway, Ireland, and Jacksonville, Fla., adding at least 175 jobs along the way.
U.S. Congress
If Obamacare falls
Until last week, the government’s confidence on the constitutionality of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA) seemed all but certain. Now, they’re not so sure it might stand.
Of course, most American’s are wondering: "Okay, if it gets repealed, then what?"
Senate bill could roll back consumers’ health insurance savings
by Lena Groeger , ProPublica
This summer, health insurance companies may have to pay more than a billion dollars back to their own customers. The rebate requirements were introduced as part of the 2010 health-care reform law and are meant to benefit consumers. But now an insurer-supported Senate bill aims to roll back the rebate requirements.
MassDevice.com +7 | The top 7 med-tech stories for the week of March 12, 2012.
Say hello to MassDevice +7, a bite-sized view of the top seven med-tech stories of the week. This latest feature of MassDevice.com’s coverage highlights our seven biggest and most influential stories from the week’s news to make sure you’re up to date on the headlines that continue to shape the medical device industry.
If you read nothing else this weekend, make sure you’re still in the know with MassDevice +7.
Senators introduce bi-partisan medical device bill
MASSDEVICE ON CALL — A quartet Senators yesterday introduced the bi-partisan Ensuring Safe Medical Devices for Patients Act, in the latest legislative effort to beef up the FDA’s oversight of medical devices.
Sens. Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.), Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), Michael Bennet (D-Colo.) and Herb Kohl (D-Wisc.) lent their names to the measure and won the backing of a clutch of advocacy groups.
MassDevice.com +3 | The top 3 med-tech stories for March 12, 2012.
Say hello to MassDevice +3, a bite-sized view of the top three med-tech stories of the day. This feature of MassDevice.com’s coverage highlights our 3 biggest and most influential stories from the day’s news to make sure you’re up to date on the headlines that continue to shape the medical device industry.
If you read nothing else today, make sure you’re still in the know with MassDevice +3.
MassDevice.com +3 | The top 3 med-tech stories for March 5, 2012.
Say hello to MassDevice +3, a bite-sized view of the top three med-tech stories of the day. This feature of MassDevice.com’s coverage highlights our 3 biggest and most influential stories from the day’s news to make sure you’re up to date on the headlines that continue to shape the medical device industry.
If you read nothing else today, make sure you’re still in the know with MassDevice +3.
Diabetes: PositiveID makes stride toward artificial pancreas | MassDevice.com On Call
MASSDEVICE ON CALL — PositiveID (OTC:PSID) put the finishing touches on a first-in-class fully synthetic glucose sensing system, a critical component of its ongoing efforts toward developing an artificial pancreas for people with diabetes.
The company’s prototype, developed in partnership with Receptors LLC, can now sense and respond to glucose in human plasma, where it had previously only been demonstrated in a model blood plasma matrix.
Raise Medicare age? That’s cost shifting, not cost saving
Mitt “Two Cadillacs” Romney in his Detroit speech last Friday said he’d like to raise the age on Medicare eligibility to 67 to save the taxpayers money.
A Congressional Budget Office report released last month found raising the Medicare eligibility age to 67 from 65 would reduce Medicare spending by $148 billion over the next decade, but people in that age group would pay more for their health care.
Study: Stents no better than pills for some heart patients | MassDevice.com On Call
Updated: March 15, 2012 9:30 a.m.
MASSDEVICE ON CALL — Stable heart disease patients were no better off with a stent with less-costly drug therapy in a recent study comparing the 2 treatments. *
Implanting a stent to prop open blocked arteries represents a more costly alternative that failed to improve outcomes in stable patients, according to researchers from the Stony Brook University Medical Center in New York.
MassDevice.com +7 | The top 7 med-tech stories for the week of February 20, 2012.
Say hello to MassDevice +7, a bite-sized view of the top seven med-tech stories of the week. This latest feature of MassDevice.com’s coverage highlights our seven biggest and most influential stories from the week’s news to make sure you’re up to date on the headlines that continue to shape the medical device industry.
If you read nothing else this weekend, make sure you’re still in the know with MassDevice +7.