MASSDEVICE ON CALL — Recent data exposures from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid have raised eyebrows about the cost of U.S. healthcare and variability among care providers, but Biomet CEO Jeffrey Binder insists that medical devices are not to blame.

In a new editorial written for Philly.com, Binder defended the industry and its role in the ever-rising cost of U.S. healthcare, writing that medtech more often helps curb costs by keeping people healthier longer and out of the hospital.

"Over the last three decades, medical advancements have helped add 5 years to U.S. life expectancy, while cutting fatalities from heart disease and stroke by more than half," Binder wrote. "These advancements have also helped cut the number of days people spent in hospitals by nearly 60%."

Binder has not been shy about defending the medtech industry, having written a handful of editorials that aim to separate devices from increasing concerns about "wide and puzzling variations in the amounts hospitals charge for similar procedures."

He cited reports that suggest that the price of common medical devices have dropped in recent years and noted that the industry contributes more than $13 billion to the economy of Pennsylvania alone.

"Overall, medical technology prices in the United States have remained consistently low for 20 years, growing at less than half the rate of prices in the overall economy – or at an average annual rate of 1%," Binder wrote. "Medical technology can help solve our nation’s high and variable healthcare costs – and bolster the economy in the process."

 Treating hypertension patients is a game
Patients of doctors who played an online hypertension management game had better results in a shorter amount of time compared to patients of doctors who didn’t play, researchers reported this week. 
Read more

 Turkey’s making big changes to medtech promotion laws
Turkey’s  Pharmaceutical & Medical Device Institution officially published a new set of laws that govern advertisement of medical device in the country, putting new restrictions on promotion of prescription devices and those eligible for reimbursement.
Read more

 Neurostim implant may lower blood pressure
German researchers are developing an implant that uses nerve stimulation to reduce blood pressure, saying the device is looking good so far in rat models. 
Read more

 Feds OK new mobile medical apps for iPads, smartphones
The FDA in recent weeks rubber-stamped a handful of new medical apps for mobile devices, including a fluid management system from Gauss Surgical and smartphone ECG device from TeleECG.  
Read more