> The Justice Department has an ongoing probe into heart defibrillator implants, which a big medical study recently indicated are often given to patients who fall outside medical guidelines, an association for heart doctors confirmed Friday. News
> Fall River-based medical device company, NuOrtho Surgical, is getting a tax break from the state worth $573,000, the Massachusetts Life Sciences Center announced recently. The award is part of nearly $24 million in tax incentives being made through the Life Sciences Center. In return, NuOrtho Surgical has committed to the creation of 25 new jobs in 2011. Story
> Fresh off his vote to repeal healthcare reform, Minnesota Congressman Erik Paulsen is circulating a "Dear Colleague" letter hoping to gather sponsors and resurrect his bill to repeal the medical device tax (called the Defend Medical Innovation Act). Article
> Mazor Robotics continues to expand its European operations with a distribution agreement in Italy with AB Medica SpA, a specialist in the sale of surgical robots. AB Medica committed to buying the first SpineAssist robotic surgical system during the first quarter of 2011. News
> Lumenis has formed a co-marketing alliance with Boston Scientifics' Endoscopy Division, the market leader in gastroenterology and interventional pulmonology. Under the agreement, Boston Scientific will be the exclusive marketing partner in the U.S. for the promotion of Lumenis lasers and fibers in the gastroenterology and interventional pulmonology fields. Lumenis release
> CardioMEMS has earned a Georgia Bio (GaBio) 2011 Deal of the Year award. CardioMEMs was recognized in the Strategic Partnership category for the $60 million equity investment it secured from St. Jude Medical. The investment, which was made in September 2010, followed the successful completion in 2010 of CardioMEMS' CHAMPION clinical study of its wireless, implantable pressure monitor for heart failure. CardioMEMS release
> Despite the deepest recession since the Great Depression, the New Bedford Business Park has experienced explosive growth during the last three years. Since January of 2008, 11 new companies have moved into the park and four existing companies have expanded. Report
And Finally... DFL Sen. Amy Klobuchar has announced she's invited William Hawkins, the chairman and CEO for Fridley-based Medtronic, to President Obama's State of the Union address on Tuesday. Article