MASSDEVICE ON CALL — Reps. Erik Paulsen (R-Minn.) and Jim Gerlach (R – Pa.) went to bat for medical device makers, urging that the 2.3 percent excise tax set to go into effect in 2013 will hinder innovation in the field.

Paulsen and Gerlach penned a statement on the med-tech levy, saying that the measure will be directly responsible for some 43,000 lost jobs and put American global competitiveness in peril.

"This may be the most anti-innovation piece of legislation to come along in some time," Paulsen and Gerlach wrote in D.C.’s Roll Call. "The tax hits well-established companies and startup businesses that are suffering losses in their initial years while they invest heavily in the research and development of their first innovation for patients."

Writer of the "Bible of cardiology" dies at 90

Dr. J. Willis Hurst, a renown physician and researcher who wrote The Heart, which was translated into five languages and is known as the "bible of cardiology," died this week at the age of 90, Heartwire wrote.

MRIs for heart device patients

Researchers at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine may have devised a way to allow patients with implanted heart devices to undergo MRIs without putting their vital devices at risk, the Wall Street Journal reported.

Roche launches on-campus manufacturing facility

Switzerland-based Roche launched a new clinical supply manufacturing facility at its 17,000 square foot campus in Nutley, N.J., according to a press release.