> The FDA is allowing Medtronic to start a trial for its catheter-delivered replacement heart valves that could pave the way toward entry onto the U.S. market. Medtronic's press release | Story
> Opto Circuits India, a developer and manufacturer of patient monitoring systems and interventional products, has entered into a merger agreement with U.S.-based cardiology devicemaker Cardiac Science Corporation. Story
> Teleflex, a U.S. medical device group headquartered in Philadelphia, plans to turn its manufacturing and research and development (R&D) facility in Taiping into a hub for its next generation of medical devices. Report
> The nonprofit organization American Association of Retired Persons has decided to join a Dallas qui tam False Claims Act case as co-counsel against three pharmaceutical companies, according to a news report by The American Lawyer. Kevin Colquitt, a former sales representative at Guidant, which is part of Boston Scientific and Abbott Laboratories, filed the whistleblower lawsuit again Abbott, Cordis and Boston Scientific in 2006. Mr. Colquitt says the three pharmaceutical companies allegedly deceived the FDA to receive approval for biliary stents. News
> CLRS Technology in Costa Mesa, which has developed an acne treatment device that can be bought over the counter, has been bought by Solta Medical in Hayward. Article
> A new review of more than a dozen clinical trials including more than 7,400 patients reports that in the first 30 days, stenting the carotid artery that brings blood to the brain is associated with a 65 percent higher risk of death and stroke than surgery to relieve the blockage. Story
> HistoRx has announced that Heiner Dreismann has accepted its invitation to join the board of directors. As the former president and CEO of Roche Molecular Systems, Dreismann is an acknowledged diagnostic industry expert. HistoRx release
> The U.S. Court of Appeals for the 8th Circuit upholds the dismissal of a pack of product liability lawsuits over Medtronic's Sprint Fidelis defibrillator leads, ruling that the Food & Drug Administration's pre-market approval preempts the suit. Item
And Finally... One lucky dog is raving about a new high-tech medical device that's helped save her life. Rave, an 11-year-old kelpie, became the first patient to use Australia's only multi-million-dollar veterinary imaging machine. The University of Melbourne's veterinary hospital recently began operating its new MRI unit. News