As a word to the wise in a week filled with FDA advisory committee meetings on potential new opioid drugs, the state of Oklahoma filed a lawsuit Monday against three distributors, reminding everyone in the U.S. opioid prescription supply chain of the risk of litigation and hefty penalties.
Abbott Park, Ill.-based Abbott Laboratories has gained the U.S. FDA’s nod for a clinical trial that will compare the effectiveness of Mitraclip to open-heart mitral valve surgical repair in people with primary mitral regurgitation (MR) who are eligible for open-heart surgery. The prospective, randomized REPAIR MR clinical trial is expected to enroll 500 patients.
HONG KONG – Indian authorities have apparently given medical device manufacturers a one-year extension to register for market authorization that was originally to be done by the New Year.
LONDON – Cognetivity Neurosciences Ltd. has received CE software as a medical device approval for its cognitive assessment tool, a five-minute test intended as a diagnostic aid to identifying the earliest stages of dementia.
In the latest step toward making left ventricular assist devices (LVADs) easier and more accessible, the FDA recently approved a less invasive surgical approach for use with Abbott Laboratories’ latest LVAD, Heartmate 3. Now, rather than requiring risky open-heart surgery, the device can be implanted through an incision in the chest wall. Abbott gained Heartmate 3 in its 2017 acquisition of St. Jude Medical for $25 billion.