The U.S. yesterday exempted several categories of medical devices from the 25% tariffs imposed on Chinese goods by the Trump administration, including surgical, radiotherapy and dental devices. The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative said the new exclusions are retroactive to July 6, 2018, when tariffs went into effect on some $34 billion in imports […]
Capitol Hill
Democrats flip medtech-heavy Minnesota House seats
Democratic candidates flipped a pair of Minnesota congressional seats with heavy medical device industry constituencies in the mid-term elections yesterday. Rep. Dean Phillips (D-Minn.) defeated incumbent Erik Paulsen, a longtime supporter of the North Star State’s huge medtech cluster who led numerous attempts to repeal the medical device tax. The 48-year-old liquor heir carried Minnesota’s Third District by […]
House panel to vote today on medical device tax repeal
A panel in the U.S. House of Representatives is slated to vote today on a measure that would do away altogether with the medical device tax. Although the 2.3% levy on prescribed medical devices was enacted as part of the Affordable Care Act in 2010, it didn’t go into effect until 2012 and was mothballed two […]
AdvaMed readies media push ahead of House vote on medical device tax repeal
The lobbying group that represents the medical device industry’s heaviest hitters is planning an all-out D.C. media blitz ahead of an expected vote in the U.S. House of Representatives on permanently repealing the medtech tax. Although the 2.3% levy on prescribed medical devices was enacted as part of the Affordable Care Act in 2010, it didn’t […]
Paulsen takes another run at repealing the medical device tax
Rep. Erik Paulsen (R-Minn.), facing a tough re-election campaign, is taking yet another run at repealing the medical device tax. Although the 2.3% levy on prescribed medical devices was enacted as part of the Affordable Care Act in 2010, it didn’t go into effect until 2012 and was mothballed two years later; that moratorium, extended earlier […]
White House proposes 30% cut to FDA headcount, reorganization
The Trump administration this week submitted a proposal that would cut the budget and staff at the FDA, as well as reorganizing the agency to remove food regulation from its purview, according to a new Endpoints News report. The proposal would cut $1.3 billion in resources from the agency and 5,000 members of its staff […]
Report: Trump admin directs USTR to monitor foreign country device, pharma price caps
The President last week ordered the US Trade Representative to take under consideration countries which are implementing price controls on American pharmaceuticals and medical devices, according to a Financial Express report. President Trump referred to such prices controls as unjustified and at the expense of America’s R&D, and implied that the US could no longer […]
US House bill aims to improve patent protection
A new bill in the US House of Representatives aims to improve protection for patent owners, making patent injunctions easier and invalidation of patents more difficult. Introduced by Rep. Bill Foster (D-Ill.) and Rep Steve Stivers (R-Ohio), the new Support Technology and Research for Our Nations Growth and Economic Resilience bill, known as the STRONGER […]
UPDATE: Senate, Congress vote to end federal shutdown, pause medical device tax
The U.S. Senate and House of Representatives reportedly voted today to end the shutdown of the federal government, reaching a compromise on immigration and setting the stage for another two-year pause on the medical device tax. The Senate voted 81-18 to advance a continuing resolution that would fund the government until Feb. 8, three days […]
Medtech CEOs: Hatch’s last stand should be medtech tax repeal
A trio of medical device CEOs are urging Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-Utah), who’s soon to retire after four decades in the Senate, to make permanent repeal of the medical device tax one of his final acts in office. The 2.3% excise tax on U.S. medical device revenues was in effect for two years before a two-year […]
House passes stopgap bill that would delay medical device tax; Senate Dems vow filibuster
Senate Democrats vowed to filibuster a stop-gap bill aimed at keeping the federal government open past a midnight deadline today, after the U.S. House yesterday passed the budget measure which would in part put a two-year pause on the medical device tax. The 2.3% excise tax on U.S. medical device revenues was in effect for […]
