Campbell Rogers is leaving his post as chief scientific officer for Johnson & Johnson’s (NYSE:JNJ) Cordis Corp. – a role created for him in July 2006 – to take the chief medical officer job at startup HeartFlow.
Diagnostics
Abbott to cut 700 jobs in the U.S., Puerto Rico
Abbott (NYSE:ABT) followed up the release of its 2011 financials by announcing job losses in the U.S. and Puerto Rico.
The Chicago-area medical giant plans to lay off about 300 people from its vascular business in Temecula, Calif., and another 200 in diagnostics at its headquarters in Lake County, Ill.
The majority of the remaining cuts will affect Abbott’s Puerto Rico operations, and the rest will be spread accross several other sites, company spokeswoman Adele Infante told MassDevice.
10 arrested in 2 cases of Medicare fraud | MassDevice.com On Call
MASSDEVICE ON CALL — A federal grand jury indicted 10 individuals related to 2 schemes to defraud Medicare that cost the health care program more than $2 million in false claims for durable medical equipment.
Husband and wife Gilberto Gómez and Yolanda García-Rodríguez were accused of using 3 different companies to submit false claims, purchasing each new company as the prior was placed in pre-payment status by Medicare.
Wash. governor and 11 attorneys general defend health law | MassDevice.com On Call
MASSDEVICE ON CALL — Washington state governor Christine Gregoire joined 11 state attorney generals in voicing defense for the individual insurance mandate in President Barack Obama’s health care overhaul.
The group filed documents in support of the mandate with the U.S. Supreme Court, where challenges to the health law are expected to undergo initial arguments in March.
Each filed a separate amicus brief, Law360.com reported, including Gregoire and Massachusetts Attorney General Martha Coakley.
BG Medicine puts a new man in the corner office | Personnel Moves
Eric Bouvier took over the corner office at BG Medicine (NSDQ:BGMD) yesterday as president & CEO of the Waltham, Mass.-based diagnostics developer.
Prior to joining BG, Bouvier, 51, headed the Immunoassay business at global diagnostics company BioMérieux. He also held the role of president & CEO of BioMérieux’s U.S. subsidiary bioMerieux Inc.
Health care spending at 50 year low, economy to blame | MassDevice.com On Call
MASSDEVICE ON CALL — Health care spending grew only 3.8% in 2009 and 3.9% in 2010, the smallest spending increase in 50 years.
The rate of growth in the health care sector has slowed every year since 2002, but the rates in 2009 and 2010 were especially pronounced, according to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services national health expenditure report.
Welch Allyn CEO Julie Shimer to retire | Personnel Moves
Welch Allyn president & CEO Julie Shimer announced plans to retire from the Skaneateles Falls, N.Y.-based diagnostics maker by the end of 2012.
Shimer became the first woman to hold the corner office at the 95-year old company when she took the position in 2007 after 5 years on the med-tech maker’s board of directors.
Becton Dickinson lands clearance for 10-minute flu test | Regulatory Roundup
Becton Dickinson & Co. (NYSE:BDX) won FDA 510(k) clearance for its BD Veritor 10-minute diagnostic test for influenza A and B last month, amid rumors that the Franklin Lakes, N.J.-based company is ripe for buyout.
Veritor is the first rapid flu test with a digital readout, while older tests are slower, less accurate and more difficult to interpret, according to BD.
Is it really ADHD? Brain activity may provide an objective measure
Docs who own scanners order more tests | MassDevice.com On Call
MASSDEVICE ON CALL — Doctors with a financial interest in imaging equipment may order more unnecessary tests, according to a study by the Radiological Society of North America.
Patients that were referred for scans by docs who owned their own equipment had 86% more negative scans than patients referred by doctors with no financial stake in the equipment.
Tough times for Siemens mean up to 2,000 jobs cut
Siemens AG (NYSE:SI) may cut as many as 2,000 positions from its diagnostics and radiation treatment divisions, shifting its focus to lower-cost countries and reducing costs.
The European giant’s diagnostics arm, responsible for nearly one-third of sales in FY 2011, has lagged in the last two years, despite the $13 billion spent giving it an overhaul.