MASSDEVICE ON CALL — Patients implanted with St. Jude Medical’s (NYSE:STJ) Riata defibrillator leads, which the medical device company recalled late last year, are finding themselves on the hook for hefty medical bills for replacing the defective wires.
St. Jude covers certain costs, as long as patients choose another St. Jude device to replace the defunct Riata leads, and insurance and Medicare provide a big chunk of the procedure, but some patients are finding themselves with thousands of dollars in travel and other expenses, according to the Wall Street Journal.
The Minneapolis-based medical device giant has a program for helping patients with some expenses beyond the terms of the warranty, but those services may be underused by physicians who aren’t aware they exist.
The company told the Journal that it reviews patient claims that come its way on a case-by-case basis and offers reimbursement for "reasonable" bills. That could mean travel expenses and hotel bills in addition to procedure expenses.
Fear of theft curbs adoption of digital health records
Public fears about potential theft of personal information may by curbing clinical adoption of digital medical record systems, although half the country as made the switch, according to a new survey.
Read more
Medical device tax compliance included in Thomson Reuters’ latest software package
Thomson Reuters’ Tax & Accounting unit released a software upgrade for its tax software that helps companies figure out how to comply with the 2.3% medical device tax taking effect in January 2013.
Read more
AliveCor’s latest iPhone release provides pet ECGs
iPhone ECG maker AliveCor launched its latest app, a smartphone-based heart monitor for veterinarians and pet owners.
Read more
Does Stryker’s nose job device increase infection risk?
About 1 in 5 patients undergoing nose surgery with Stryker‘s (NYSE:SYK) synthetic implants developed infections, compared with only 5.3% of patients with W.L. Gore & Associates’ device, a new study reports.
Read more
