@FierceMedDev: This is pretty cool: Microbeads could replace traditional diabetes monitoring. Report | Follow @FierceMedDev
> Baxter International Chief Executive Bob Parkinson shook up his management team, disclosing this afternoon the departure of two senior executives and a plan to combine the company's renal and medication delivery businesses into a "single global unit." News
> Biomet's report Tuesday of sluggish sales in its most recent fiscal quarter indicated that the $12 billion market for replacement hips and knees remains under pressure from a struggling global economy. Story
> More than 100 lawsuits were filed against Towson, MD-based St. Joseph Medical Center and its former star cardiologist, Dr. Mark Midei, for alleged conspiracy, negligence and fraud. Midei was accused of implanting hundreds of unnecessary cardiac stents, the Baltimore Sun reports. News
> There was an article referring to the "stent" doctor--or in real life, Dr. John McLean of Salisbury and Ocean City. McLean is charged with Medicare fraud claiming that he placed numerous unneeded stents in patients who might have been otherwise been treated with medical prescriptions. This is a judgment call which doctors make depending on the circumstances. Item
> A group of U.S. congressmen has asked the FDA to postpone its changes to the 510(k) process for fear it will cause unnecessary delays to the medical device approval process. Report
> MoMelan Technologies, which raised $1 million in seed funding seven months ago, has made good use of that time and money. The Cambridge-based medical device company is hurtling towards commercialization of a device designed to stretch skin--improving the cost, time and patient experience of skin graft procedures. Story
> The Mississippi Supreme Court has affirmed a lower court's ruling in favor of a medical device manufacturer whose spinal cord stimulator was faulty, claims a man who suffered injuries after it broke. News
> A team of Ohio State cardiologists are some of the first in the country to treat blocked arteries through the most unlikely of places--the wrist. Article
> U.S. Senator Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) has raised concerns about a U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs official's past relationship with Medtronic, according to news reports. Story
> Austin-based SpineSmith Partners has sold the distribution and manufacturing rights for a cervical plate product it began selling two years ago. Marquette, Mich.-based Pioneer Surgical Technology Inc. signed a deal to buy the Cequence product on Oct. 6. As part of the transaction, SpineSmith becomes a Pioneer distributor. Terms of the deal were not disclosed. News
> When Glenn Laub and Gintaras Vaisnys decided to launch Defibtech a decade ago, it could have been a terrible time to start manufacturing and selling automated external defibrillators. Large makers such as Philips Medical Systems, Medtronic and Cardiac Science dominated the health care industry, making it tough for the start-up to find customers in the hospital and ambulance market. Rather than seeing an obstacle, they saw an opportunity. Story
> Ultrasound can speed the healing of fractures. A randomized controlled trial reported in the open access journal BMC Musculoskeletal Disorders has found that the use of low-intensity pulsed ultrasound (LIPUS) in patients with tibial fractures which showed inadequate progress toward healing resulted in 34 percent greater bone mineral density (BMD) in the fracture area after 16 weeks than use of a sham device. BioMed Central release
And Finally... Canadian-led research on deaf cats could advance cochlear use in adults. Experts at the University of Western Ontario believe they have identified the part of the brain that allows people suffering from hearing and vision loss to experience heightened abilities in their other senses. The study used cats--one of the only other animals that can be born deaf--to determine the elevation of certain visual capabilities and what parts of the brain were affected by the enhanced sight. Article