Medtronic(NYSE:MDT), the maker of new innovative medical devices, announced the U.S. launch of a new remote glucose monitor that allows caregivers to be aware of glucose levels of the patient in another room.Describing mySentry as a first-of-its-kind monitor, Medtronic said that it would allow parents and other caregivers to know in real time glucose levels [...]

Transcatheter aortic valve implantation has been hailed as an exciting technology able to treat acute cardiac stenosis in patients who cannot undergo open-heart surgery.But now the Mayo Clinic has found that the procedure requires a lot of practice. And that raises the question of how widely the nascent technology will be adopted in the U.S. [...]

The old Medtronic Infuse controversy is being stirred up again.The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel today published a story on Thomas Zdeblick, the chairman of the Department of Orthopedics & Rehabilitation at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, who has received more than $25 million in royalties from Medtronic since 2003.The article calls to question Zdeblick’s position as chairman [...]

The U.S. attorney in Minneapolis settled a kickback case with device maker Medtronic yesterday, with the company agreeing to pay $23.5 million without admitting it paid doctors $1,000 to $2,000 for choosing its brand of defibrillator. What is so galling about this and other cases like it is that the physicians were being asked to [...]

Medtronic (NYSE:MDT) will shell out $23.5 million to settle accusations that it paid kickbacks to doctors who implanted its pacemakers and cardiac defibrillators, the company announced Monday.Medtronic was accused of soliciting physicians to participate in post-market studies and device registries, offering them between $1,000 and $2,000 per patient for using Medtronic’s device, according to the [...]

Life science current events this week include Medtronic’s continued efforts to cut costs, the top life science clusters in the U.S. and healthcare companies that use big data to solve problems.

In an earnings call last week, Medtronic (NYSE:MDT) CEO Omar Ishrak announced he was challenging the medical device maker to cut 25 percent of its costs — up to $1.3 billion — from everything from logistics to sales over the next five years.This comes as the company wraps up the final year of a cost-reduction [...]

Medtronic (NYSE:MDT) today announced U.S. Food and Drug Administration approval of the latest product in its growing diabetes portfolio, the next generation iPro2 continuous glucose monitoring (CGM) system.The professional CGM allows physicians to see a more complete picture of glucose highs and lows resulting from a patient’s diet, medication and daily activities, allowing for better [...]

Medtronic (MDT) exceeded analysts’ expectations with profits of $871 million, or 82 cents per diluted share, in the second quarter of fiscal year 2012, up 54 percent from the same period last year.Buyers responded to the earnings, which CEO Omar Ishrak said “reflect a quarter of stability in a challenging market,” and shares were up [...]

A new Medtronic (NYSE:MDT) neurostimulation system that uses motion-sensor technology to automatically adjust stimulation levels in patients with chronic leg and back pain has won U.S. Food and Drug Administration approval.The AdaptiveStim RestoreSensor system comprises an implanted device that interrupts pain signals from reaching the brain, causing the user to feel a tingling sensation instead [...]