Say hello to MassDevice +5, a bite-sized view of the top five medtech stories of the day. This feature of MassDevice.com’s coverage highlights our 5 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.
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5. Boston Scientific finds ‘fix’ for Lotus Edge heart valve, preps for May PMA submission
Boston Scientific has reportedly found a fix for its Lotus Edge heart valve after the company paused implantations of the device in October last year.
The Marlborough, Mass.-based company expects to submit a premarket application to the FDA in May, according to a Barclays report. The submission time would position Boston Scientific for approval by the end of the year, with a launch in early 2018. Read more
4. Neurosurgeon gets 20 years in unneeded spinal surgery fraud scheme
A neurosurgeon in Michigan this week was sentenced to nearly 20 years in prison after pleading guilty to a $2.8 million health care fraud scheme in which he performed unnecessary invasive spinal surgeries.
Dr. Aria Sabit plead guilty to 4 counts of health care fraud, 1 count of conspiracy to commit health care fraud and 1 count of unlawful distribution of a controlled substance, according to a Department of Justice release. Dr. Sabit’s activities resulted in significant losses to Medicare, Medicaid and various private insurance companies. Read more
3. Study shows Alzheimer’s drug activates stem cells in teeth
Researchers from King’s College London have shown that an Alzheimer’s drug can stimulate the stem cells found in tooth pulp and generate a protective material, dentine, in large cavities. The team’s work was published yesterday in Scientific Reports.
If the soft pulp of a tooth becomes infected after a traumatic event, a thin layer of dentine is naturally produced to seal the pulp and protect the tooth from infection. But this layer is not enough to fix large cavities, so dentists use man-made fillings to fill holes in teeth. Read more
2. Claret Medical wins a date with the FDA for Sentinel TAVR device
An FDA advisory panel is slated to review next month the Sentinel embolic protection device made by Claret Medical, following the company’s bid for de novo clearance last fall.
The federal watchdog’s Circulatory System Devices Panel scheduled a hearing for Feb. 23 to review the clearance bid for Sentinel, which is designed to use a pair of temporary arterial filters during transcatheter aortic valve replacement to trap blood clots before they get to the brain. Read more
1. Hill-Rom to pay $330m for Mortara Instrument
Hill-Rom said today that it agreed to put up $300 million for Mortara Instrument and its line of diagnostic cardiology and patient monitoring devices, not including a $40 million “tax benefit” the company expects to gain by structuring the buyout a certain way.
Milwaukee-based Mortara makes an eponymous line of cardiac monitoring devices, plus the Quinton and Burdick brands it acquired from Opko’s Cardiac Science in 2013. The company, which employs more 400 workers, posted sales of $115 million last year, Chicago-based Hill-Rom said. Read more