CLINICAL EVENTS CALENDAR
- Monday, September 13, 2010 - 23:00CEPIA Introduction to Cardiac Electrophysiologyhttp://www.cepia.com.au
- Friday, September 17, 2010 - 00:0016th Annual SASEAP Workshop for EP Allied Professionalshttp://www.saseap.org
- Monday, September 20, 2010 - 23:00Transcatheter Cardiovascular Therapeutics (TCT) 2010http://www.tctmd.com
- Friday, September 24, 2010 - 00:00VI International Symposium on Interventional Electrophysiology in the Management of Cardiac Arrhythmias
EP Lab Digest News Wire
AARP Report Finds Brand Name Drug Prices Soar as Large Pharmacy Benefit Managers Reap Windfall Profits
According to a new AARP report, the average retail price of the most popular brand-name drugs increased by 8.3 percent in 2009 and by 41.5 percent over the past five years – rates well in excess of inflation as measured by the Consumer Price Index. At the same time, major pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs) like CVS Caremark, Express Scripts, Inc. and Medco Health Solutions, Inc., hired by employers and other health plan sponsors to negotiate lower prices from drug manufacturers, experienced record profits, in some cases increasing five-fold over the past decade.
Joseph H. Harmison, PD, President of the National Community Pharmacists Association (NCPA) and Arlington, Texas pharmacy owner, issued the following statement in response to the AARP report, first covered by The New York Times:
Medtronic Receives Health Canada Approval for the Newest Radiofrequency Ablation Tools for Atrial Fibrillation
Medtronic, Inc. announced it received Health Canada approval for the Medtronic Ablation Frontiers Cardiac Ablation System, a novel radiofrequency (RF) ablation technology for the treatment of atrial fibrillation (AF). AF is the most common heart arrhythmia that affects more than 250,000 Canadians[1] and seven million people worldwide.[2]
Hansen Medical Announces Agreement to Integrate Its Sensei® X CoHesion™ 3-D Visualization Module with the EnSite Velocity™
Hansen Medical, Inc., the global leader in flexible robotics and the developer of robotic technology for accurate 3-D control of catheter movement, announced that it has signed an agreement with a division of St. Jude Medical, Inc., a global medical device company, to commercialize new products based on the companies' complementary technologies for treating patients suffering from heart rhythm disorders.
The agreement will integrate the EnSite Velocity Cardiac Mapping System from St. Jude Medical with the Sensei X CoHesion 3-D visualization module from Hansen Medical, to provide physicians the ability to visualize, locate and robotically control catheters within the heart to diagnose heart rhythm disorders. Hansen Medical and St. Jude Medical plan to market and sell the integrated electrophysiology (EP) solution in the United States and the European Union.
Bristol-Myers Squibb and Pfizer Inc. Evaluate Unmet Need in Patients with Atrial Fibrillation
Bristol-Myers Squibb Company and Pfizer report that preliminary results from the Phase 3 AVERROES clinical trial of the investigational drug apixaban compared with acetylsalicylic acid (ASA, or aspirin) in patients with atrial fibrillation expected to be or demonstrated to be unsuitable for warfarin therapy will be presented at the European Society of Cardiology Congress 2010. The results will be presented during the “Hot Line” session on August 31, 2010, in Stockholm, Sweden.
Atrial fibrillation (AF) is the most common serious chronic arrhythmia, affecting about 4.5 million people in Europe and 2.2 million people in the United States.[1] Patients with AF are at five times greater risk for stroke compared with the general population.[2] Fifteen percent of all strokes are attributable to AF, and one quarter of all strokes in persons older than 80 years are attributable to AF.[1]
Ascent Leads Industry Commitment to Quality Healthcare as a First-Mover on GLN Readiness
As hospitals and providers work to adopt GS1 global supply chain standards into their operations, Ascent is now ready to work with customers using Global Location Numbers (GLNs). These are standardized identification numbers that give medical locations unique numbers, and will improve the safety and efficiency of healthcare with more effective traceability and improved order, invoice and inventory management capabilities. As the leading re-manufacturer of single use devices (SUDs) and one of the first suppliers to announce GS1 readiness – well before 2010 GLN Sunrise date of December 31 – Ascent demonstrates its leadership and commitment to improving and evolving the healthcare industry.
Vicor Technologies Trains Technicians, Initiates Data Collection Using PD2i® Nonlinear Algorithm
David H. Fater, CEO of Vicor Technologies, Inc., announced that Drs. Daniel Weiss and Jerry Anchin, Vicor’s Chief Medical Officer and Director of Research and Development, respectively, participated in the start of a new cardiac screening initiative being conducted by Cardiac Risk in the Young (CRY), a London-based non-profit organization. Vicor Technologies is a biotechnology company focused on the development of innovative, non-invasive medical devices using its patented, proprietary PD2i® nonlinear algorithm and software. Vicor is currently in the process of commercializing diagnostics that accurately risk stratify specific target populations for future pathological events including cardiac death resulting from arrhythmia or pump failure, and autonomic nervous system dysfunction, and trauma victims in need of lifesaving intervention.
U-M’s Efforts to Encourage Full Disclosure of Medical Errors Decreased Claims and Costs, Study Says
The University of Michigan’s program of full disclosure and compensation for medical errors resulted in a decrease in new claims for compensation (including lawsuits), time to claim resolution and lower liability costs, according to a study published Aug. 17 in the Annals of Internal Medicine.
“The need for full disclosure of harmful medical errors is driven by both ethics and patient safety concerns,” said lead study author, Allen Kachalia, MD, JD, Medical Director of Quality and Safety at Brigham and Women’s Hospital. “However, because of fears that disclosing every medical error may lead to more malpractice claims and costs, disclosure may not happen as often and consistently as we would hope.”
Boca Raton Community Hospital First in Florida to Use New Device for Stroke Prevention in AF Patients
Boca Raton Community Hospital's Christine E. Lynn Heart and Vascular Institute (LHVI) announced the first use in the state of Florida, and only the fourth use in the nation, of a recently FDA-approved device to exclude the left atrial appendage, a site associated with stroke in atrial fibrillation (AF) patients.
James Morris, MD and medical director of the Institute, recently implanted what is known as the AtriClip™ into a 71-year-old male patient with atrial fibrillation who had been admitted to the hospital suffering from an intracranial bleed. The patient has since been discharged in good condition.
Patients with atrial fibrillation have a five times higher risk of suffering a stroke than people who don't have the condition, according to the Framingham Heart Study, which followed over 5,000 patients for more than 30 years.
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