Medtronic (NYSE:MDT) is providing additional facts in response to a New York Times report detailing an acquisition by Covidien that allegedly changed the course of a government contract designed to increase ventilator supply, now a major problem amid the coronavirus pandemic. Medtronic bought Covidien for $50 billion in 2015 — years after the events described in the […]
Medtronic
Medtronic launches COVID-19 monitoring system
Medtronic Care Management Services is launching two new software programs for assessing, monitoring and triaging people concerned about COVID-19 and potential symptoms. The MCMS COVID-19 virtual care evaluation and monitoring system — which Medtronic (NYSE:MDT) announced late last week — is now available to U.S. health systems, plans and employers. It follows the company’s launch of […]
AdvaMed: Invoking Defense Production Act could hinder U.S. medtech imports
Forcing manufacturers to repurpose their production lines to make equipment to fight the coronavirus epidemic might actually hurt the U.S. supply of those items, the head of medtech trade group AdvaMed said today. AdvaMed officials have talked with U.S. secretary of Health and Human Services Alex Azar and FDA commissioner Dr. Stephen Hahn about medtech […]
Medtronic Foundation pledges $10m to COVID-19 efforts
Medtronic (NYSE:MDT) announced that its Medtronic Foundation is making an additional $10 million in contributions to COVID-19 relief efforts around the world. The Fridley, Minn.-based company said in a news release that the funds will be put toward training and supervising frontline health workers, ensuring their safety (including the provision of personal protective equipment and other […]
Elon Musk says he delivered more than 1,000 ventilators to U.S.
Tesla co-founder & CEO Elon Musk confirmed on Twitter that he orchestrated the delivery of more than 1,000 ventilators to the U.S. California Governor Gavin Newsom initially announced last night that Musk delivered 1,000 ventilators to the state. After some back-and-forth discussion on the social media platform regarding where Musk got the devices, the entrepreneur […]
5 companies on the front lines of the coronavirus fight
Nancy Crotti, Managing Editor and Danielle Kirsh, Senior Editor Amid the stock market roller-coaster ride that began last month, medtech companies that make devices and diagnostic tests vital to fighting COVID-19 may ultimately fare better than others, but it’s hard to tell until the virus peaks and people get back to work. At midafternoon today, […]
How are U.S.-based ventilator companies doing?
The U.S. is one of many countries facing new restrictions, quarantines and, due to high demand, shortages of important medical equipment to help combat the coronavirus pandemic. As hospitals and healthcare facilities report the need for more equipment, and with the government potentially invoking a statute that could ramp up protective equipment manufacturing even more, […]
7 ways the coronavirus is affecting medtech
Medtech companies face some tough times as the deadly coronavirus pandemic gains steam. But could this be the medical device industry’s Dunkirk, too? Just days ago, MassMEDIC president Brian Johnson made a call-out on LinkedIn for people to send ideas about how Massachusetts medical device companies could help fight COVID-19. He drew an analogy to […]
Major U.S. manufacturers answering call for ventilator needs
U.S. manufacturers — inside and outside medtech — are offering help amid shortages of ventilators, respirator masks and more needed to combat coronavirus. News broke this week that Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in New York is reportedly experiencing shortages of masks and other protective equipment, and it is not alone in that regard. Last […]
Trump invokes Defense Production Act against coronavirus
President Trump announced today that he is invoking the Defense Production Act — a Korean War–era law that enables extraordinary government actions to boost needed supplies — “just in case we need it” to fight the coronavirus pandemic. There have been stories of healthcare providers across the United States facing shortages of everything from ventilators […]
How will coronavirus affect medtech companies that rely on elective surgeries?
One thing is likely to hurt some medtech companies more than others during the coronavirus pandemic: an elective surgical procedure slowdown. This thought had begun to emerge last week among industry watchers, but a pair of tweets over the weekend gained thousands of “likes” and retweets. The American College of Surgeons called for hospitals to […]