ThermoTek last week won a $7.6 million judgment plus interest from a distributor of its VascuTherm body heating and cooling system it accused of stealing trade secrets to develop its own competing product. ThermoTek alleged that Mike Wilford and various entities he controlled used their distribution agreement to purloin the design for the wraps used with […]
Hospital Care
ICU Medical to shutter Slovakia plant, lay off 265
ICU Medical (NSDQ:ICUI) said today that it’s planning to shutter a plant in Vrable, Slovakia, where it employs 265 workers, and transfer its operations to another facility in Mexico. San Clemente, Calif.-based ICU said it expects to closure to be complete during the 3rd quarter of 2016, with the Slovakian production transferred to Ensenada, Mexico. ICU Medical […]
Pro Medicus jumps on German hospital deal
Pro Medicus (ASX:PME) shares jumped more than 5% today after the Australian medical imaging systems maker said it inked a roughly $2.1 million (A$3 million) deal with a large German hospital. Richmond-based Pro Medicus said its European subsidiary, Visage Imaging, signed the 5-year deal with “1 of the largest government run hospitals in Germany” for its […]
ECRI Institute publishes top 10 health tech hazards, endo-superbugs top list
The ECRI Institute published a top 10 list of health technology hazards for 2016, focused on medical devices and issues that were of concern to patient safety. The ECRI institute is a nonprofit dedicated to analyzing and researching which medical procedures, devices, drugs and processes are best to improve patient care, the group said. Topping […]
Gauss Surgical wins CE Mark for Triton blood loss monitor
Gauss Surgical said it won CE Mark approval in the European Union for its Triton mobile real-time surgical blood loss monitoring system. The device works with Apple‘s (NSDQ:AAPL) iPad system and is the 1st and only mobile platform for surgical blood loss monitoring, the Los Altos, Calif.-based company said. “We have had a strong response […]
Hospitals to pay $250m for ICD coverage violations
UPDATED Nov. 3, 2015, with comment from the Heart Rhythm Society. (Reuters) — Hundreds of U.S. hospitals will pay a total of more than $250 million stemming from allegations that they implanted cardiac devices in Medicare patients in violation of coverage requirements, the U.S. Justice Dept. said today. The 457 hospitals are from 43 states, the […]
Study: Medication errors occur in 1 out of 2 surgeries
A new study from Harvard Medical School investigating the incidence of drug dosing errors and adverse events before, during and after surgeries found a 50% rate of errors in the OR. The study, which examined more than 275 operations at the Massachusetts General Hospital, also indicated that a 3rd of the errors discovered resulted in […]
Medtronic inks cardiology managed care deal in Nigeria
Medtronic (NYSE:MDT) said today it is partnering with Renescor to bring managed healthcare services to Lagos, Nigeria’s Gbagada Cardiac and Renal Centre. Renescor won a 5-year agreement with the government of Lagos to bring new high quality services to the Gbagada cardiac and Renal Center, the company said. As part of the 4-year partnership, Medtronic’s integrated health […]
Edwards Lifesciences, BD’s CareFusion ink interoperability pact
Edwards Lifesciences (NYSE:EW) and Becton Dickinson (NYSE:BDX) subsidiary CareFusion said today that they inked an interoperability pact for their respective hemodynamic monitoring and IV fluid administration offerings. The focus will be on hydration for moderate- to high-risk surgical patients using Edwards’ hemodynamic monitoring systems and fluid management algorithms and CareFusion’s Alaris infusion systems, they said. The collaboration aims to examine any correlation between […]
AmSurg makes $5.3B bid to combine with TeamHealth
(Reuters) — AmSurg proposed a $5.3 billion merger with TeamHealth Holdings Inc as it looks to add heft to its business that provides doctors to hospitals and other healthcare services. AmSurg, which revealed on today that private merger talks with TeamHealth fell through in September, said it had gone public with the offer to persuade TeamHealth […]
Premier wins $9.3m CMS contract
Premier Inc. (NSDQ:PINC) said today it won a $9.3 million contract from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services to take part in the 2nd round of the Hospital Engagement Networks in the Partnership for Patients initiative. The goal of the program is reducing preventable readmissions to hospitals by 20% and reducing hospital-acquired conditions by […]