Interventional cardiology device developer OrbusNeich Medica has filed a lawsuit alleging patent infringement, breach of contract and misappropriation of trade secrets against Boston Scientific.

Washington, DCMaurice Buchbinder, MD, director of the Foundation for Cardiovascular Medicine in La Jolla, Calif., opened a lecture at CRT 2009 by asking, Why do we need biodegradable stents? What we know about metallic stents is so complete and polished, why should we start all over again and try to define a new prosthesis that goes away?

Confirma, a developer of computer-aided detection (CAD) software for MRI, has released the next generation of CADstream for breast MRI in Canada.

A record number of potential medicines to treat heart disease and stroke are in development, according to a report on medicines in the research pipeline by the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America (PhRMA) .

The U.S. House Energy and Commerce Committee is questioning Merck and Schering- Plough for details about the early release of study data related to the cholesterol drug Vytorin.

Healthcare in the United States is often fragmented and uncoordinated and it is common for patients to receive episodic care from different physicians. A study in the March 3 issue of the Annals of Internal Medicine finds that patients who are connected to a primary care physician are more likely to receive guideline-consistent care than those who are connected to a practice but not a physician.

Kansas Governor Kathleen Sebelius has accepted President Barack Obama's offer to be his nominee for the position of Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS).

A new study in the journal HeartRhythm reveals that the potential of Sprint Fidelis lead failure increases, mainly due to the device's "fatigue mechanism," while the failure rates of other defibrillator leads are low and stable, lead researcher Robert G. Hauser, MD, told Cardiovascular Business News.