Market & Industry Briefs

Brief summaries of recent medtech market and industry developments. This month we cover a new GAO report that ups the pressure on the medical imaging market; Cordis Corp.'s suspension of its PFO closure device program; Atritech's PMA for stroke prevention; Zimmer's acquisition of Abbott Spine; and the US market for contraception devices and procedures.

Diagnostic imaging studies have been under scrutiny for some time now, as payors and regulatory bodies debate whether such scans are overused by physicians. (See "Diagnostic Imaging: Screening Faces Scrutiny," Medtech Insight, January 2008 Also see "Diagnostic Imaging: Screening Faces Scrutiny" - Medtech Insight, 1 January, 2008..) But this summer, the Government Accountability Office (GAO) ratcheted up the pressure (and the debate) even further when it released an analysis calling for routine preauthorization of medical screening tests. The GAO analysis was requested in 2006 by Congress, which is looking for ways to meet medical care cost reduction mandates imposed by the Deficit Reduction Act of 2005.

According to the GAO report, Medicare Part B Imaging Services: Rapid Spending Growth and Shift to Physician Offices Indicate Need for CMS to Consider Additional Management Practices, Medicare spending for...

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