
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 ‘exactly as we have feared,’ AdvaMed CEO Ubl says
Time has not healed all wounds when it comes to the medical device tax. Nearly 2 years after implementation, the levy has played out according to script, AdvaMed president & CEO Stephen Ubl said this week.
“[It] is playing out exactly as we have feared. It’s cost us high-paying jobs, reduced R&D spending, stifling new innovations. It’s been a nightmare for the IRS to implement and there’s no evidence of a windfall,” Ubl told reporters gathered at the AdvaMed 2014 convention in Chicago. Read more
2. Medicare: Medical device companies paid out $200m to physicians last year
Some 437 medical device companies paid out a collective $199 million in cash and other payments to physicians last year, according to a new database from the U.S. Health & Human Services Dept.
But HHS itself admits that large swaths of payment information are missing from its Open Payments database, and critics say there are major problems with the existing data, released last week as part of the Physician Payment Sunshine Act. Read more
1. Shareholder sues Medtronic over plan to cover execs’ $58m tax tab
A Medtronic shareholder sued the company last week over its plan to cover nearly $58 million in taxes its pending, $43 billion buyout of Covidien would incur for its top executives.
U.S. tax laws impose a 15% excise tax on stock owned by executives and directors for the 6 months before and after a merger transaction. Although it’s said all along that it will offer an excise tax “gross-up” to cover executives from the tax, Medtronic revealed in an August 26 regulatory filing the details of the coverage. Read more