St. Jude sued Volcano in July 2010 in the U.S. District Court for Delaware, accusing it of violating a quintet of patents St. Jude acquired in its 2008 buyout of Radi Medical Systems AB, a Swedish guidewire maker.
Leerink Partners
Meeting: Will CMS limit off-label use of left ventricular assist devices?
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services are likely to leave current payment intact for left ventricular assist devices, but an agenda released ahead of a November meeting hints at possible restrictions on off-label use for the costly devices.
The federal agency plans to meet November 14 to review available evidence on LVADs and discuss how best to optimize outcomes for heart failure patients, especially when it comes to pinpointing which patients are likely to benefit from the procedure.
Hospitals: Cap-ex market still constrained | Wall Street Beat
Mako Surgical (NSDQ:MAKO) Rio robotic surgery system needs to move from ‘nice to have’ to ‘need to have’ if it’s going to gain traction with hospitals.
That’s because the capital expenditure market is still under pressure from the weak economy, according to Leerink Swann analyst Richard Newitter, citing the un-named hospital CFO.
Medicare: New rates avoid $850M in hospital cuts
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services released its inpatient reimbursement rates yesterday, sparing hospitals from an $850 million haircut by leaving out a 0.8% cut to Medicare hospital payments.
The Medicare agency boosted the rate for a type of implantable heart pump called left ventricular assist device by 9.5%, a proposal CMS released in April to raise the LVAD reimbursement rate by 7.9%.
U.S. orthopedics on the upswing, analysts say | Wall Street Beat
Wall Street analysts are predicting with increasing confidence that the U.S. orthopedics market is on the upswing following an industry survey suggesting a coming increase in procedure volumes.
A MEDACorp orthopedics survey of 65 U.S. hip and knee surgeons found improvements in 12-month procedure volume expectations and increased patient willingness for surgery, according to an investment note from Leerink Swann analyst Richard Newitter.
HeartWare stock gains 4.5% as analysts predict FDA approval ahead of panel meeting
Despite FDA concerns, analysts expect a positive vote for HeartWare International‘s (NSDQ:HTWR) HVAD ventricular assist system as a bridge to transplant for patients with end-stage heart failure.
Boston Scientific warns on ICD electrical malfunction following patient death
Natick, Mass.-based med-tech titan Boston Scientific (NYSE:BSX) today issued a warning on its Cognis and Teligen implantable cardioverter defibrillators, citing "an identifiable pattern of malfunction" that led to a small number of adverse events including 1 patient’s death.
Orthopedic survey: U.S. knee/hip market has hit bottom
The U.S. market for hip and knee reconstructions may have hit bottom, but there’s still a long way to go, according to a survey of orthopedic surgeons.
The investment bank Leerink Swann polled 76 "high volume" orthopedic surgeons, concluding that the knee and hip reconstruction market is "stable" but not "improving," with most knee and hip docs reporting unchanged patient surgery wait times and "only modest expectations in their next 12 month procedure growth forecasts."
Is Medtronic’s spine business headed to the auction block? | Wall Street Beat
The message to Medtronic’s (NYSE:MDT) spine business from chairman and CEO Omar Ishrak was clear today: Shape up or ship out.
During a conference call with analysts to discuss the med-tech titan’s fiscal 3rd-quarter results, Ishrak said he was “not happy” that the division posted a 9% revenue decline and warned that the spine unit must raise its game or face the consequences.
MassDevice.com +3 | The top 3 med-tech stories for February 15, 2012.
Say hello to MassDevice +3, a bite-sized view of the top three med-tech 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.
If you read nothing else today, make sure you’re still in the know with MassDevice +3.
UPDATE: Wall St. reacts to Bard’s $371M win against Gore | Legal News
Updated Feb. 10, 2012, at 1:30 p.m. with share values and analysts’ reactions.
A U.S. federal judge this week upheld C.R. Bard’s (NYSE:BCR) win against W.L. Gore & Associates over vascular graft patents.