Facebook, Twitter and all other things social media are a tougher sell in the HIPAA-filled world of healthcare. Companies want a piece of that world (they think), but it’s harder to find a fit, and eventually, a return on investment in health than in a field like consumer technology.
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Feds force Synthes to sell Norian, pay $23 million in fines
Synthes Inc., the American division of the Swiss medical device maker, will plead guilty to federal criminal charges that its North American subsidiary Norian Corp. made an illegal end run around the Food & Drug Administration for clinical trials in which three patients died.
Argon buys critical care and catheter platforms from BD
Argon Medical Devices Inc. bought pressure monitoring and catheter product lines from the medical device sector of Franklin Lake, N.J.-based Becton, Dickinson & Co. (NYSE:BDX).
The acquisition comprised BD’s blood pressure monitoring devices and central venous, pulmonary artery and extended dwell catheters forAthens, Texas-based Argon. The deal expands its interventional radiology, critical care and cardiac catheterization product lines.
EarlySense lands FDA OK for patient data central display
Israeli medical device company EarlySense Ltd. announced today that its EverOn Central Display Station — which accompanies its EverOn Touch patient monitoring system — was cleared the Food & Drug Administration.
The 510(k) clearance covers the ability to collect real-time vital sign information from up to three dozen EverOn bedside monitors and display the information on a computer screen at a nurse’s station. The information also is displayed on large LCDs on medical or surgical floors, enabling clinicians to continuously monitor patients.
Zen and the art of product maintenance
Taking a break during a recent business trip in Japan, we were sitting in the rock garden of Ryoanji, a Rinzai Zen temple in Kyoto. Created in the 15th century, Ryoanji boasts one of the world’s most famous Zen gardens; its 15 stones are positioned so that two or three are always hidden from view. The lesson is that no one is ever able to see everything all at once. There is always more than — literally — meets the eye.
Hirooka-san, our guide and a self-described Buddhist, explained this to us and then asked me, "So … are you enlightened?"
"I understand now why this garden is so special," I offered.
Children’s Hospital Boston spins out ModeRNA Therapeutics
Hot on the heels of the announcement of a revolutionary method of creating stem cells without destroying human embryos, the Harvard researchers who discovered the technique are spinning out a company to commercialize it.
Researchers at Boston’s Harvard Stem Cell Institute discovered a way to reprogram human skin cells so that they become stem cells, bypassing the creation of stem cell lines from human embryos.
Guide Flow sues BD, five others over catheter patent
Guide Flow LLC filed a lawsuit against six other firms, accusing them of infringing its patent for a "Catheter Guidewire and Flushing Apparatus and Method of Insertion."
The Newport Beach, Calif.-based firm accused C.R. Bard Inc. (NYSE:BCR), AngioDynamics Inc. (NSDQ:ANGO), Becton, Dickinson & Co. (NYSE:BDX), Medical Components Inc., Navilyst Medical Inc. and Smiths Medical ASD Inc. of violating the patent in a suit filed in the U.S. District Court for Utah.
Sorin subsidiary ELA Medical looks to settle federal beef for $10 million
Italian medical device maker Sorin Group said it reached a tentative, $10 million settlement with the U.S. Dept. of Justice in case accusing its ELA Medical subsidiary of running an illegal kickbacks scheme.
The Justice Dept. opened an investigation into the case in 2006, examining whether the Plymouth, Minn.-based subsidiary orchestrated a scheme using its sales force to provide kickbacks to doctors who bought its pacemakers. The settlement, in which the company admits no wrongdoing, is expected to become official during the third quarter.
Invacare gets in the refi wave
Invacare Corp. (NYSE:IVC) is offering to buy back $146 million worth of senior notes that come due in 2015 in a continuing effort to reduce its load of high-cost debt.
The Elyria, Ohio-based home healthcare products issued $175 million worth of the notes, which pay 9.75 percent interest each year, in early 2007 as part of a $710 million debt refinancing.
DJO Inc. looks to buy back $200 million in debt
DJO Inc. wants to buy back $200 million worth of its own debt, issuing a tender offer to holders of some of its senior subordinated notes.
The San Diego-based orthopedic and cardiovascular device maker said it will pay $1,035 for each $1,000 worth of debt tendered, plus another $30 per $1,000 of debt for early tenders of its 113/4 percent notes due in 2014.
The offer is open until Oct. 15 for early tenders and until Oct. 29 for later tenders.
Credit Suisse Securities (USA) LLC is managing the tender offer.
MedGadget’s MedTech Monday: DNA chip IDs gene mutations in saliva or blood
DNA chip IDs gene mutations in saliva or blood: Amsterdam Molecular Therapeutics is developing one of the first commercial genetic therapies for patients with lipoprotein lipase deficiency (LPLD). The firm submitted the therapy, Glybera, to the European Medicines Agency and expects a decision on its approval in mid-2011. Before therapy, however, the genetic mutation must be diagnosed.