> CareFusion Chairman and CEO David Schlotterbeck will retire in February after overseeing the San Diego hospital devicemaker's launch as a stand-alone public company in 2009 and a downsizing in August that laid off 700 workers. News
> A new report is renewing questions about the Food and Drug Administration's oversight of medical devices. In a paper published in the British medical journal known as BMJ, investigative journalist Jeanne Lenzer and Shannon Brownlee of the Dartmouth Institute for Health Policy and Clinical Practice raise questions about the FDA's oversight, citing a device manufactured by Cyberonics, of Houston. Abstract | Article
> A panel at Cleveland Clinic's Medical Innovations Summit focused on five companies developing innovative obesity-fighting medical devices that have yet to hit the market. The companies that participated were "handpicked" by Philip Schauer, director of the Clinic's Bariatric and Metabolic Institute, who moderated the discussion. List
> City-based medical devices company HD Medical Services is working on a stethoscope that can look deep into the body, transmit the sounds while displaying the images on a palm sized screen. News
> Henry Schein posted better-than-expected quarterly results, and continued sales growth of the healthcare distributor's dental equipment pointed towards a gradual improvement in its markets. Henry Schein release | Story
> W.L. Gore & Associates (Gore) today announced a new prospective, randomized, multi-center study at the Annual Meeting of the American Association for the Study of Liver Diseases. The hypothesis of the study is that early intervention with the GORE® VIATORR® TIPS Endoprosthesis improves transplant-free survival when compared to large volume paracentesis in patients with cirrhosis and difficult to treat ascites. Gore release
> That dreaded sentence from your internist after your 50th birthday: "It's time for your first five year screening colonoscopy!" may become as outdated as a Sony Walkman. There is work underway to replace screening colonoscopies by DNA tests on either fecal samples or blood. News
> Royal Philips Electronics has introduced the Philips Panorama High Field Open Oncology Configuration for radiation therapy, a magnetic resonance imaging solution for dedicated oncology use, at this year's American Society for Therapeutic Radiology and Oncology in San Diego, CA. Philips release
> The UAE's Ministry of Health has banned the sale and use of two medical devices, one made by a British company that is used in kidney dialysis and the other a US-made lung-sealant system used in post-surgical procedures. Report
And Finally... Skulls, skeletons and body parts are all around the plant and offices of Medical Accessories & Research Corp. But don't look for any of their bones in Halloween stores or as scary costume accessories. The company produces its skeletal and body parts to train surgeons on operating procedures and help salesmen around the world demonstrate surgical equipment and artificial joints. Story