medical device news from FierceHealthcare

Devicemaker Stryker Corp. has been targeted by two investigations, one looking at its relationship with doctors, and the other related to compliance issues regarding one of its products. For one... Read more...

Prosecutors and state investigators rounded up and arrested a group of Los Angeles-area medical device suppliers this week for their alleged involvement in a collective $33 million worth of Medicare... Read more...

Here's a nice piece of advocacy by the Advanced Medical Technology Association (AdvaMed)--a study concluding that implantable devices and high-tech diagnostics are not, mind you, NOT a major... Read more...

New Jersey's attorney general has created a task force to study whether the state should require disclosure of pharma and device-maker gifts to doctors. Attorney General Anne Milgram says she's aware... Read more...

A thoughtful analysis by a medical device executive looks at three key models for universal healthcare, and concludes that no one of the three will work across the board. One of the main reasons we won't be able to pitch the existing private healthcare system, he says, is that direct-to-consumer pharma advertising creates a huge demand for expensive drugs. Given that …

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A popular nerve-testing device is raising concerns among some critics, who say that the potential for profiting from its use may be putting patients at risk. NC-stat, made by small medical device firm Neurometrix, is designed to test patients for nerve disease. Medicare will pay for tests done with the NC-stat, which costs about $5,000. NC-stat is used largely by general practitioners, who say that they want to help patients get to the root of their problems quickly. But neurologists …

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It looks like 2005 was a bad year for healthcare fraudsters, but a good year for those willing to expose them. According to a report by DHHS, the Federal government took in approximately $1.47 billion in judgments and settlements in health care fraud cases during 2005. The whistleblowers who helped the feds find these scammers, filing qui tam lawsuits on behalf of the government under the False Claims Act, did pretty well, too, splitting nearly $137 million in awards--far more than in …

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Reusable medical devices were largely displaced by disposables when advances in plastic technology met the age of AIDS. But now, hospitals are re-using single-use items multiple times, aided by industrial reprocessing companies. The practice slashes supply costs. Usually the devices work fine, but sometimes they don't, with disastrous results. This story in The New York Times describes a heartbreaking case where a breathing tube tip damaged by reprocessing has permanently …

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Sens. Chuck Grassley (R-IA) and Max Baucus (D-MT) are asking CMS to delay planned changes to Medicare payments. In April, CMS proposed changes to the diagnostic-related groups (DRGs), the system used to classify patient cases that determines how much Medicare will reimburse the hospital. Changes would include payments based on costs rather than charges and would be adjusted for the severity of each case. CMS wants to initiate the changes for fiscal year 2007, but the Senators want to wait …

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With excitement growing about the role of philanthropy in healthcare after Warren Buffett's $30 billion gift to the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, the integrity of some tax-exempt charities with close ties to for-profit physician practices is being questioned. Critics say that medical device makers and pharma companies are using gifts to charities set by doctors they want to be close to as a form of "relationship funding." The New York Times looks at the example of the …

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