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Invacare announces executive leadership changes after CEO steps down

Invacare (NYSE:IVC) today announced multiple leadership changes as CEO Matthew E. Monaghan has stepped down from the corner office.

Elyria, Ohio-based Invacare said in a news release that the changes were made to its senior management team and board of directors to advance its business transformation initiatives, address supply chain challenges and strengthen its financial performance.

Invacare named Geoffrey P. Purtill, who served as SVP and GM of EMEA and APAC, interim president and CEO to replace Monaghan, whose departure from his role as chair, president and CEO was made effective on Aug. 28. The board of directors commenced a search to identify and appoint a permanent CEO.

“After careful consideration, the board determined that now is the right time for a change in leadership to oversee the successful execution of Invacare’s business transformation,” said Cliff Nastas, Invacare’s lead independent director. “We welcome Geoff who has disti…

Zimmer Biomet loses appeal on $3.5M hip implant suit verdict

[Image from Unsplash]A U.S. Court of Appeals denied an appeal from Zimmer Biomet (NYSE:ZBH) to move to a new trial after a $3.5 million hip implant lawsuit verdict.

In 2020, a federal jury in Iowa awarded $3.55 million to Lori Nicholson and her husband Willis for injuries sustained as a result of the company’s much-litigated M2a Magnum metal-on-metal hip implant. The jury found in Nicholson’s favor following the conclusion that the M2a Magnum was defectively designed. Around the same time as the Iowa lawsuit, a federal judge in Missouri signed off on a $21 million judgment regarding the M2A Magnum.

Zimmer Biomet moved for a new trial and renewed its motion for judgment as a matter of law, but the district court denied these motions and, in a decision filed Aug. 24, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eight Circuit affirmed that denial.

The appeals court found that the district court did not err in denying Zimmer Biomet’s motion for judgment as a …

Study shows workplace productivity improvements with One Drop type 2 diabetes tech

[Image from One Drop]One Drop today announced positive results from a trial of its digital health platform for people with type 2 diabetes.

Employees using the One Drop digital diabetes management platform experienced significant productivity and functioning gains and were less likely to experience presenteeism at follow-up compared to control groups.

Get the full story at our sister site, Drug Delivery Business News.

Dentsply Sirona taps BD executive as new CEO

Simon Campion is leaving BD to take over the corner office at Dentsply Sirona [Image courtesy of Dentsply Sirona]Simon Campion will be the new CEO of Dentsply Sirona (Nasdaq:XRAY) as it wraps up an internal investigation into potentially iffy financial practices.

Campion will join the Dentsply Sirona board on Sept. 12, according to a news release out yesterday. He takes over for interim CEO John Groetelaars, the former Hillrom CEO who has led the dental tech company since the removal of former CEO Don Casey in April. (Previous CFO Jorge Gomez soon left his new job at Moderna.)

At BD, Campion has most recently led the company’s Medtech segment. He joined BD through its $24 billion acquisition of Bard in 2017, leading BD’s Interventional segment through the integration.

Eric K. Brandt, chairman of the Dentsply Sirona board, described Campion as a high-integrity, transformational leader. “In his 25 years in the medical device industry, Simon …

Medtronic recall of HeartWare HVAD batteries is Class I

Medtronic’s HVAD [Image courtesy of Medtronic]The FDA today issued a notice deeming the recall of the Medtronic (NYSE:MDT) HVAD batteries as Class I, the most serious kind.

Medtronic recalled the HeartWare Ventricular Assist Device (HVAD) batteries (model number 1650DE) because they may experience electrical faults that cause them to fail unexpectedly. Such an occurrence means the batteries may be unable to power the controller, unable to accept a charge from the battery charger or appear to remain charged when in use.

If the battery fails and the patient is unable to replace the failed battery with a charged, working battery or with AC or DC power, the HVAD may stop working, leading to serious injury or death, according to the FDA notice.

The medtech giant has recalled 23,372 devices, distributed from Jan. 1, 2009, to the present day, after initiating the recall on June 28, 2022. To date, Medtronic has reported 1,159 complaints, six injuries and one …

Baxter, The Links partner to raise kidney health awareness in Black communities

Baxter (NYSE:BAX) announced today that it expanded its partnership with The Links to improve awareness and resources related to kidney health.

An international not-for-profit organization, The Links will join Baxter to bring awareness to the disproportionate challenges affecting Black Americans related to kidney health.

Deerfield, Illinois-based Baxter is committing an incremental $800,000 in funding to The Links, specifically targeted toward expanding the program’s footprint to additional areas with a high prevalence of chronic kidney disease (CKD).

According to a news release, the latest $800,000 investment from Baxter brings the company’s cumulative contributions to The Links to $1.4 million over two years. Baxter and The Links joined forces in 2021 to create intervention-based programs focused on the prevention, detection, and management of CKD.

Baxter said that, during the inaugural program year in The Links Central region, 36 local cha…

Data backs Penumbra’s catheters for stroke care

[Image from Penumbra]Penumbra (NYSE:PEN) announced today that initial data support the use of its RED reperfusion catheters and the Penumbra System.

Alameda, California-based Penumbra presented results from the initial Insight Registry for the RED reperfusion catheters and the sub-analyses of the Complete study study for the Penumbra system at the 2022 World Federation of Interventional and Therapeutic Neuroradiology (WFITN) in Kyoto, Japan.

Get the full story at our sister site, Medical Tubing & Extrusion.

Fresenius’ NxStage launches Speedswap for critical care dialysis

Fresenius Medical Care North America’s renal therapies group announced today that it launched the Speedswap for the NxStage System One with NxView.

Speedswap, a new option for the NxStage System One with NxView, enables the changing of a flow-compromised dialysis filter without replacing the entire cartridge.

According to a news release, Fresenius designed the new Speedswap system to help reduce therapy downtime, ease nursing workloads and lower treatment costs in acute care settings by improving the filter change through the use of a pre-attached, yet detachable, filter that allows for the replacement without replacing a cartridge.

“This introduction of Speedswap aims to both improve the quality of dialysis treatment in the critical care setting and make our technology even easier to use by the care team,” said Joe Turk, president of the Renal Therapies Group at Fresenius Medical Care North America. “This product is another examp…

Teleflex partners on VR training for its UroLift 2 system

Teleflex (NYSE:TFX) announced today that it entered into a new agreement with FundamentalVR over integration for medical simulation.

Wayne, Pennsylvania-based Teleflex’s agreement with FunamentalVR, a leader in virtual reality (VR) integration for medical simulation, will provide Teleflex with a VR training platform to accelerate the effective use of its UroLift 2 system.

UroLift 2, a minimally invasive treatment for lower urinary tract symptoms due to benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH, commonly known as enlarged prostate), is indicated for the treatment of symptoms of an enlarged prostate up to 100 cc in men 45 years or older (50 years outside the U.S.).

UroLift permanent implants can be delivered during an outpatient procedure and relieve prostate obstruction without heating, cutting, destruction of, or removing prostate tissue.

According to a news release, the VR platform integrates tactile feedback and a digital representation of UroLift…

Ambu says 70% of layoffs are completed

Ambu announced today that it has completed nearly three-quarters of its workforce reduction as part of its cost reduction program.

The Ballerup, Denmark–based developer of single-use scopes announced earlier this month that it was set to let go of 200 employees as it looked to cut costs. The reduction program aims to strengthen Ambu’s free cash flow and improve profitability to support future growth.

Ambu anticipates savings around roughly DKK kr250 million ($40 million) per year from the cuts, with DKK kr150 million ($24 million) expected in one-time expenses.

In an interim report for the company’s third quarter, Ambu said that, as of today, 70% of the reductions concerning its global workforce have been completed.

Ambu has reported a total of 4,500 employees in the past, meaning that the layoffs would represent approximately 4% of its workforce.

Britt Meelby Jensen, CEO of Ambu, said in a news release that the company continue…

Amazon is reportedly shutting down Amazon Care

Multiple reports citing an internal memo at Amazon (Nasdaq:AMZN) say that the company will stop offering its Amazon Care services at the end of 2022.

Geekwire reported that Neil Lindsay, Amazon Health Services SVP, issued an internal memo declaring that the Amazon Care primary healthcare services “wasn’t going to work long-term.”

According to the report, Amazon has said that the decision to no longer offer the primary healthcare services after Dec. 31, 2022, only affects Amazon Care and none of the other healthcare ventures made by the company, which include a potential multi-billion-dollar acquisition of home healthcare services company Signify Health. The company also announced a nearly $4 billion deal to acquire One Medical last month.

Lindsay wrote in the memo that the company determined that Care “isn’t the right long-term solution for our enterprise customers.”

“This decision wasn’t made lightly and only b…

Fitbit unveils fall lineup that includes AFib-detecting smartwatch

[Image from Google/Fitbit]Google’s Fitbit has announced its upcoming releases this fall, with one health-focused offering providing heart health tracking capabilities.

According to a blog post presenting the new offerings, the new Inspire 3, Versa 4 and Sense 2 — the latter of which being the heart health tracker — are all thinner and more comfortable than previous versions, offering all-day wearability and no need to charge the devices every day.

The Fitbit Sense 2 marks the company’s “most advanced health-focused smartwatch,” according to the post. It features more than six days of battery life to help users manage stress and track heart health through sensors that can detect signs of AFib, among other things.

The device marks Fitbit’s bid to better compete against the heart monitoring tech on the Apple Watch, which is FDA-cleared for irregular heart rhythm detection and notification.

Fitbit said that through its ECG a…