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. Medtronic touts ‘smart’ CRM data
Medtronic (NYSE:MDT), citing 2 studies involving nearly 7,000 patients, said updated monitoring technology incorporated into its defibrillators helped patients avoid unnecessary shocks. Another finding: proactively programming the implants helped improve patient outcomes.
Both studies evaluated the company’s SmartShock technology in different ways, with cardiac resynchronization defibrillators and implantable cardioverter defibrillators. Details were published in the journal HeartRhythm.
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2. Intuitive Surgical OKs $1B share buyback
Intuitive Surgical (NSDQ:ISRG) said today that its board approved a share repurchasing program worth up to $1 billion.
"We continue to use our cash to invest in our business by advancing our technology, growing our presence outside of the U.S. and driving adoption of robotic-assisted minimally invasive surgery," CFO Marshall Mohr said in prepared remarks. "We also seek to return excess cash to our shareholders, and this authorization gives us the flexibility to act given the right opportunity."
1. Medical device tax: What we talk about when we talk about job losses
For going on 5 years now, opponents on both sides of the fight over the medical device tax have engaged in a rhetorical war about the number of jobs that will be lost to the levy.
The 2.3% excise tax, enacted in 2010 as part of the Affordable Care Act, went into effect at the beginning of 2013. It applies to all U.S. sales of prescribed medical devices. The medtech industry has fought the tax tooth and nail since even before its inception, labeling the levy as a “job killer.” Read more
