Non-Surgical Weight Loss Balloon System: Interview with Obalon Therapeutics CEO 

weight loss

Medgadget recently reported on the FDA approval of the Obalon balloon system, which assists weight loss in obese patients who have failed to lose weight by other means and is an alternative to conventional gastric bypass surgery. The system has been developed by Obalon Therapeutics, a company out of Carlsbad, California, and consists of inflatable…

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Carestream Health Introduces New Medical Imaging and Healthcare IT Products

Carestream Health

Carestream Health has unveiled new medical imaging and healthcare IT products at this year’s Radiological Society of North America (RSNA) conference in the US. The company showcased its OnSight 3D extremity system, digital X-ray detectors, and two premium ultrasound systems at the event. It also exhibited radiography/fluoroscopy platform and a self-service kiosk that will allow patients…

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This Year’s Highest-Paying Jobs Dominate One Industry

highest-paying jobs

If your mother encouraged you to be a doctor when you were growing up, you probably should have taken her advice.  Medical doctors top this year’s list of the 10 highest-paying jobs in the U.S. according to CareerCastOpens a New Window. The list ranked the annual median salary of various occupations and half of the jobs…

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Top Medical Device News Stories of 2016 

medical device

Biotech suffered big losses in 2016, while pharma was taken to task for price-gouging. With these stories dominating the news, it may seem like medical device manufacturers had a quiet year. But in fact, 2016 saw them make major headlines. From cybersecurity to bioelectronics, medical device topics are garnering increased media coverage. That’s because medical devices—formerly…

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What’s the GOP Planning for the Medical Device Tax Under Trump?

medical device tax

Donald Trump’s victory in the presidential election increases the likelihood the medical device tax will be repealed in 2017. However, the precise legislative path for repealing Obamacare’s device tax is “hard to know,” a key Republican lawmaker on the issue recently told me. Congress should act quickly, in a bipartisan way, on repealing the tax…

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Investors Still Punishing Hospital Companies on Obamacare Repeal Fears

Investors have yet to put a floor beneath hospital and physician-staffing stocks that plummeted after Donald Trump’s election to the presidency. Dallas-based Tenet Healthcare, whose shares are down more than 25% since Tuesday, is among the leading decliners among all stocks following Trump’s stunning victory over Hillary Clinton Tuesday. Trump has vowed to make repealing…

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Medtronic Agrees to Share Data in Patient-Safety Effort 

Medtronic

Medtronic CEO Omar Ishrak announced this week that he is joining the board of the Patient Safety Movement Foundation, which was founded four years ago by Masimo CEO Joe Kiani. Minnesota-run Medtronic PLC and California-based Masimo Corp. are bitter rivals when it comes to selling medical devices that detect health problems by measuring patients’ blood…

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Young Biologists Ditch Postdocs for Biotech Start-Ups 

Biologists

Many biologists are founding their own firms as venture capitalists show increased interest in science.   Vindication was three years coming for Ethan Perlstein (pictured above). On 19 October, his California biotechnology company, Perlara, announced a deal with Novartis. The Swiss drug giant will test a compound that Perlara has identified as a possible treatment for a…

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EarlySense Launches New Wireless Monitoring Tool to Help Reduce Hospital Readmissions 

Waltham, MA – September 27, 2016 – EarlySense, the market leader in contact-free continuous monitoring solutions, today launched InSight™, a new product line extension designed for facilities aiming to reduce hospital readmissions and falls. Leveraging the company’s market-proven hospital technology, InSight provides a powerful continuous vital sign monitoring tool that allows clinicians to detect early…

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Inside the Largest Medical Device Acquisition in History

Medical

In June 2014, Medtronic and Covidien shook the medical technology industry with the announcement of a merger of unprecedented scale. OCTANe’s Medical Investor Forum, held in Irvine, Calif., Oct. 27-28, featured a conversation between Geoff Martha, who led Medtronic’s team for the $50 billion merger, and Brett Wall, former president of Covidien and current president…

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