The piper calls the tune, and for the advanced medical imaging industry that tune is Neil Young’s "After the Gold Rush." For the first time in more than 10 years, imaging volumes declined in 2009.
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Smith & Nephew nets Billie Jean King as spokeswoman
Smith & Nephew plc (NYSE:SNN) is going to see if Billie Jean King’s pitch is as good as her serve.
The British orthopedics giant announced that the tennis legend has signed on as the company’s spokeswoman for its Legion knee implants. King, who won six Wimbledon singles championships and four U.S. Open titles in a scintillating tennis career, had double knee replacement surgery last year using the Legion implant.
Smith and Nephew claims that the implants are built to provide 30 years of “active mobility under normal conditions.”
House Democrats call for Clarence Thomas to recuse himself from legal challenges to healthcare law
A group of congressional Democrats are calling for U.S. Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas to recuse himself from any case that considers the constitutionality of healthcare reform.
In a Feb. 9 letter, 74 House Democrats wrote to Thomas, citing an alleged conflict of interest caused by the work of the justice’s wife to overturn the healthcare overhaul.
The Democrats said the conflict stems from the Thomas household’s financial gain through Virginia "Ginni" Thomas’s work as a lobbyist who has contracts for groups that oppose the law.
DNA tests inadvertently exposing incest
Republican grilling of Medicare chief Berwick verges on Dickensian
It wasn’t technically Dickensian, but the grilling of Centers for Medicare and Medicaid chief Dr. Donald Berwick on Capitol Hill this morning was certainly the tale of two Michigan congressmen.
Berwick received tough questions from Republican members and mostly plaudits from Democrats as he testified before the House Ways and Means Committee meeting on the impact last year’s landmark Patient Protection & Affordable Care Act will have on Medicare.
What he probably didn’t expect was a lesson in literature from chairman Rep. David Camp (R-Mich.).
Dodge & Cox bets big on Boston Scientific
Other major backers of Boston Scientific Corp. (NYSE:BSX) may be standing pat or cutting their stakes, but Dodge & Cox is increasing its bet on the medical device maker, increasing its stake by 43.6 percent.
The Boston-based mutual fund firm now owns nearly 120 million shares, or 7.9 percent, of its neighbor in Natick, according to a filing with the federal Securities & Exchange Commission.
Expediting FDA approval with human factors usability testing
By Tiffany Hogan
It seems that each day we are receiving more signals from the FDA that they are increasingly taking medical device usability testing seriously. Very seriously. The agency is asking for usability testing early and often, and is expecting manufacturers to collect sound data in order to support the claims of safety and efficacy that they are making in their device applications. Having sound protocols for such data collection is intended to help speed regulatory approval of new medical devices.
Smith & Nephew CEO Illingsworth announces retirement on earnings call
David Illingsworth is leaving the corner office at Smith & Nephew plc (NYSE:SNN), the company announced today as part of its fourth-quarter earnings release.
Illingsworth, who is retiring after a nine-year tenure at the helm of the British orthopedics giant, will be replaced by Olivier Bohuon, whom the company poached from French pharmaceuticals firm Pierre Fabre. Bouhon also ran the pharmaceutical business of Abbott Laboratories. The transition, which has been in the works for months, is set to take place April 14.
Report: Healthcare jobs comprise almost 11 percent of U.S. employment
Private-sector healthcare makes up a higher percentage of total U.S. employment than ever before, reaching 10.7 percent, according to a new report from the nonprofit healthcare research and consulting firm Altarum Institute.
That figure represents an increase of more than one percentage point since the start of the recession in Dec. 2007, when private-sector healthcare represented 9.5 percent of total employment.
The study was conducted by the Altarum Institute’s Center for Studying Health Spending; its analysis was based on data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.
FDA recalls Arstasis arterial access device
The Food & Drug Administration issued a recall for Arstasis Inc.’s arterial access device.
Components of the Redwood City, Calif.-based company’s One Access System could fracture or separate during surgical procedures, which could lead to patient harm, according to the watchdog agency.
The device is designed to provide surgical access to blood vessels in femoral artery catheterization procedures. It also assists care providers in stopping the bleeding involved in the procedure, the FDA said.
Cardiac Science lands U.S. Postal Service defibrillator deal
The U.S. Postal Service’s law enforcement arm will now be equipped with Cardiac Science Corp.’s automated defibrillators.
The Bothell, Wash.-based cardiac-device firm won a contract to deploy the devices at offices of the U.S. Postal Inspection Service across the country, according to the company.
The USPS is slated to buy an undisclosed amount of the company’s Powerheart AED automated external defibrillators. The devices feature the company’s "RescueCoach" voice-prompt system that instructs rescuers with CPR treatment instructions that include a CPR compressions metronome.