MASSDEVICE.COM ON CALL — Many medical device companies have long petitioned for a repeal of the 2.3% excise tax on U.S. sales, but analysts say medtech companies have already managed to absorb the tax without taking a hit to the bottom line or jacking up costs for consumers.
Seven months into the tax, companies are instead coping by making layoffs, freezing salaries and restructuring. Many large medical device companies have landed headlines with exhaustive restructuring plans and sweeping layoffs.
An industry analysts from Bloomberg said experts agree the larger medical device companies will restructure rather than take suffer losses, according to The Morning Call.
Brigham cardiac surgeon quits after road rage at Logan Airport
Dr. Robert Rizzo, head of Brigham & Women’s Cape Cod Hospital cardiac surgery program, resigned in the wake of assault and battery charges. The troubles began for Rizzo last month as he waited to pick up his wife at Logan Airport, where he ran afoul of a Mass. state trooper, allegedly running over the trooper’s foot with his car.
The cardiologist drove off and was soon arrested in the Ted Williams Tunnel. Rizzo, who launched the open-heart surgery program at the Hyannis, Mass., hospital in 2002, quit both his position at the Brigham and at the Cape Cod hospital.
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Circumcision costs $2,110 at 1 hospital and $235 across town
A pediatrician in Anchorage calls the $2,110 price tag for a circumcision at Alaska Regional Hospital "wildly abnormal"
and is rallying 2 groups of pediatric physicians to stop conducting the simple procedure there. Across town, at Providence Hospital, a circumcision costs $250. Dr. Charles Ryan said the physicians in his group were quick to move their circumcision procedures into private offices after learning about the hefty bills to patients.
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A new app to move patients up on an organ transplant list
OrganJet Corp., a Weston, Mass.-based company, recently released an app that will help patients find a better spot in line for an organ transplant. In states like New Jersey, California, and Massachusetts, patients sometimes wait up to 5 years for an transplant, but other states have significantly shorter lists. The free OrganJet app matches patients with organ lists in nearby geographic regions so they can more affordably relocate and cut their wait time on the organ transplant list.
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Obamacare covers millions of uninsured young Americans
Out of the 15 million young Americans who enrolled in
parent’s healthcare plans last year, 7.8 million would not have been able to afford other insurance coverage, according to a new survey from the Commonwealth Fund. Contrary to popular belief, the survey found that a majority of young adults will choose to be insured if affordable. Only 5% said they would turn down employer-based coverage because they felt they didn’t need it. Commonwealth Fund VP Sara Collins said it is a myth that young adults are callous about healthcare coverage; rather, they value insurance but often cannot afford it.
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