Say hello to MassDevice +3, a bite-sized view of the top three medtech stories of the day. This feature of MassDevice.com’s coverage highlights our 3 biggest and most influential stories from the day’s news to make sure you’re up to date on the headlines that continue to shape the medical device industry.
3. Medical device tax: House Ways & Means schedules markup for repeal bill
The powerful Ways & Means Committee of the U.S. House of Representatives is slated to convene a markup session for 1 of the bills circulating on Capitol Hill that would do away with the medical device tax.
The 2.3% levy on U.S. sales of prescribed medical devices was enacted as part of the Affordable Care Act and went into effect at the beginning of 2013. It’s forecast to raise between $20 billion and $30 billion over 10 years. Read more
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2. Meet the boffin behind Medtronic’s Micra leadless pacemaker
Medtronic’s Micra device is likely the cardiac rhythm management pioneer’s most-tested pacemaker, according to the senior principal scientist who led the team that developed the leadless pacemaker.
Some 140 patients in a trial were implanted with the micro-sized pacing device without any unanticipated events, up from the 96 patients reported at the Heart Rhythm Society’s annual meeting last month, senior principal scientist Matthew Bonner told the Minneapolis Star-Tribune. Read more
1. Olympus reveals DoJ probe of superbug outbreak
Olympus said that the U.S. Justice Dept. subpoenaed a U.S. medical device subsidiary in March over deadly outbreaks of so-called “superbug” infections linked to endoscopes it makes.
In February and March duodenoscopes made by Olympus were implicated in dozens of hospital-acquired infections across the country. In Seattle, 39 people were infected at the Virginia Mason Medical Center between 2012 and 2014; 11 eventually died. All were critically ill when they were infected, but it was unclear if the bacterial infection contributed to their deaths, Seattle public health officials said at the time. Read more
