A Medical Device Daily

Cardiologists in the UK are fighting a burgeoning effort by the government to block coverage of drug-eluting stints (DES) in the wake of safety concerns reported over the past year.

Those safety concerns already have led to more cautious use of the devices around the world, the Associated Press said in a report filed from London late Monday. Now, the British agency with the lead role in deciding what the country’s health system pays for wants to stop reimbursements for them.

Tuesday was the deadline for public comment on the recommendation, being made by the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE), which will meet next week to review the proposal and the comments.

Britain’s health advisory body said that comments from doctors and the public could still influence its ultimate guidance. “There is always the possibility that the recommendations could change,” said spokeswoman Lucy Betterton. “We respond to reasoned arguments and will be looking to the feedback we’ve had on the draft recommendations.”

The AP report said that if the proposed cuts are adopted, patients would either get a bare-metal stent or be forced to pay for DES implantations themselves. The DES devices typically cost about $2,300, compared to about $700 for the bare-metal versions. The news agency said that could even lead some people to choose surgery or medication as alternatives to angioplasty.

“This is a pretty drastic step,” said Gabriel Steg, MD, a cardiologist at Bichat Hospital (Paris) and spokesman for the European Society of Cardiology (Sophia Antipolis, France). “We are seeing the pendulum swing too far the other way. Withdrawing drug-eluting stents altogether is probably not a good idea,” he said, adding that the tiny mesh tubes can still be a good choice for certain patients.

Steg said he also is worried that the British health agency’s plan would send the wrong message to patients who already are DES-implanted. “We do not want to say that this is a dangerous device,” he told the AP. “We still need to see more data on drug-eluting stents before we can have the final word.”

The British Cardiovascular Society said that it was “surprised, disappointed and very concerned” by the proposal. The British Cardiovascular Intervention Society called the advice “fundamentally flawed.” Without the use of DES devices, the society said, some patients would be forced to live with untreatable chest pain.

Dusseldorf to get BSD equipment

BSD Medical (Salt Lake City) reported that the Parents’ Initiative Pediatric Cancer Clinic is making a large donation for the purchase and operation of a new BSD-2000/3D/MR for the benefit of the three pediatric clinics associated with Dusseldorf University’s (Dusseldorf, Germany) medical center.

A statement issued by the University Clinic Heinrich-Heine University Dusseldorf credits “the generosity among the citizens and the untiring work of the Parents’ Initiative Pediatric Cancer Clinic” for making the contribution possible.

Dusseldorf University describes the new system as a combined magnetic resonance tomography unit (MRT) and a thermal therapy (hyperthermia) system.

“What makes this unit special is the combination of the MRT with a device for administering thermal therapy in the region surrounding the tumors,” said the statement. “This new unit allows a precise imaging of the diseased, affected tissue as well as the neighboring healthy tissue — even in children with small tumors. Hyperthermia enhances the effect of the chemotherapy in the targeted area. This often means that advanced tumors that have proven resistant to standard therapies can be treated.”

Sectra to be PACS provider in NYC

The New York City Health and Hospitals Corp. (HHC) has selected the information technology and medical technology company Sectra (Stockholm, Sweden) as its provider for picture archiving and communications (PACS) products and services. HHC is the largest municipal hospital and healthcare system in the U.S.

During the five-year agreement, Sectra will supply PACS products as well as deliver direct service and support to Bellevue Hospital Center, King’s County Hospital, Lincoln Medical & Mental Health Center, Harlem Hospital Center and the Metropolitan Hospital. Together, these hospitals perform about 700,000 radiology examinations annually.

HHC serves 1.3 million New Yorkers, providing medical, mental health and substance-abuse services through its 11 acute-care hospitals, four skilled nursing facilities, six large diagnostic and treatment centers and more than 80 community-based clinics.

Saliva Sampler gets high marks

StatSure Diagnostic Systems (Framingham, Massachusetts) said that its Saliva Sampler was selected by the National Public Health Institute of Finland (Helsinki) as the standard for sampling oral fluid/saliva in all tasks in the DRUID (EU-funded research project DRiving Under Influence of Drugs, alcohol and medicines) study.

Results of the study are being presented at the International Association of Forensic Toxicologists conference in Seattle this week.

The results of the study emphasize the impact of the selection of the oral fluid collection device on the whole toxicological procedure, StatSure said. It said its Saliva Sampler gave best results for recovery (more than 80% for all substances), for stability, was quick to use, and got good user comments.

The company said that as a result of being chosen by DRUID, it has been receiving initial purchase orders from 12 countries throughout Europe.