Originally Published MX November/December 2002
BUSINESS NEWS
Reason WithdrawnIn early October, the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois issued a permanent injunction prohibiting Cook Inc. and Guidant Corp. from developing or distributing paclitaxel-eluting stents. In July, Guidant had announced plans to purchase Cook and its nonexclusive rights to the use of paclitaxel. The injunction had been sought by colicensee Boston Scientific Inc., which is involved in litigation with Guidant.
During the third quarter of 2002, medical device industry M&A activity jumped 19% over the previous quarter, according to the Health Care M&A Report. The 13 healthcare sectors tracked by the report are on a pace to close 2002 with nearly 850 deals involving $100 billion in funding, with the medical device, pharma, and hospital sectors leading the way.
The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS; Baltimore) has withdrawn its final rule on inherent reasonableness, after industry associations urged the agency to issue a new notice of proposed rule making with a comment period. The rule would implement the agency's authority to adjust Medicare payment levels that it considers "inherently unreasonable," because they are either "grossly excessive" or "grossly deficient."
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