The manufacturer of a metal-on-metal hip implant, Johnson & Johnson, was ordered by a Los Angeles jury to pay more than $8.3 million in damages to a Montana man for the defective device. The verdict’s damages included $338,000 to cover the medical expenses for Loren Kransky, a retired prison guard, who received the implant, known [...]
Expert Witness Says Hip Implant Harmless
March 4, 2013 By 2 Comments
An expert witness in a trial over recalled hip implants was extensively cross-examined as to whether he had a bias in favor of the manufacturer of the medical devices, after he claimed that the implant was harmless. Dennis Paustenbach said in the trial in Los Angeles that the patient, Loren Kransky, was not harmed by [...]
FDA Rules on Metal Hip Implants
January 24, 2013 By Leave a Comment
Manufacturers of metal-on-metal hip implants will need to prove that their medical devices are safe and effective before they could continue selling existing models or obtain approvals to sell new all-metal devices, according to a proposed rule from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). The FDA’s action is intended to close a loophole in [...]
Medical Device Reduces People’s Desire to Eat
October 17, 2012 By Leave a Comment
For overweight people who have difficulty losing the pounds or keeping them off, there’s a new medical device, pending approval from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), that could suppress their appetites and cut down on their between-meal snacks. The manufacturers of the device, called Abiliti, made by IntraPace of Mountain View, CA, claim [...]
Artificial Pancreas Device Undergoing Tests
June 14, 2012 By 1 Comment
For people with Type 1 diabetes, monitoring their blood sugar level is a constant task. “The first thing I do when I wake up is check my blood sugar,” says Terra Hillyer, who has the disease. “It is the background noise of my life.” In Hillyer and others with the disease, the pancreas fails to [...]
New Medical Devices Aren’t Always Improved
July 6, 2011 By 1 Comment
Think just because you’re getting a new medical device that it must be “new and improved”? According to an article by Barry Meier in The New York Times, it doesn’t play out that way for medical devices designed to be hip replacements. “New” isn’t always “improved.” The new metal-on-metal hip implants were considered by device [...]
J&J to Leave Stent Medical Device Market
June 20, 2011 By Leave a Comment
Johnson & Johnson (J&J) is leaving the market it has created almost 20 years ago, reports an article in The Wall Street Journal. The company is saying farewell to a $5 billion global market for the tiny metal devices called stents that hold clogged heart arteries open. The move comes after years of downhill sales [...]
Johnson & Johnson to Buy Medical Device Company Synthes
April 21, 2011 By 1 Comment
The rumors began over the weekend and are growing stronger. Johnson & Johnson (J&J) is in discussion to acquire Synthes, a Swiss medical device manufacturer. If the deal crystallizes, J&JÂ could boost its revenue and profit in the short term and gain a strong foothold in the growing market for orthopedic surgery products. It will also [...]
GAO Concerned About Medical Device Approval Process
April 20, 2011 By Leave a Comment
The Government Accountability Office (GAO) has raised concerns about the approval process that high-risk medical devices undergo — or rather, don’t undergo — by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). The federal watchdog group says the agency recently took steps to see if certain high-risk medical devices, such as artificial hips and external defibrillators, [...]
