Medtronic has issued a $2.5 million grant to Yale University, in New Haven, Conn., to independently review the safety and effectiveness of Infuse, the companys recombinant bone morphogenic protein-2 (rhBMP-2) product, which is used to stimulate bone formation, but has been linked to several side effects including male sterility.

Caliper Life Sciences of Hopkinton, Mass., and Carestream Health of Rochester, N.Y., have settled two lawsuits.

Bivalirudin (Angiomax, The Medicines Company) may be a viable alternative to heparin plus glycoprotein IIb/IIIa inhibitors (GPIs) in diabetic STEMI patients undergoing primary PCI, according to a substudy of HORIZONS-AMI trial results published in the July issue of JACC: Cardiovascular Interventions. In fact, patients who were administered bivalirudin saw reduced cardiac mortality at both 30 days and one year.

Symmetry Medical has signed an agreement to purchase Olsen Medicals assets in an all-cash transaction, upon meeting all pre-closing conditions. The sum was not disclosed.

NextGen Healthcare Information Systems, a wholly owned subsidiary of Quality Systems and developer of healthcare information systems and connectivity tools, has agreed to market and deliver tools and services to medical practices with Dell.

Assessing the outcomes of nearly 37,000 visitors to Florida who became ill and needed emergency treatment, researcher Joseph J. Doyle, economist with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, found that high spending areas have significantly lower inpatient mortality rates compared to low-spending areas, according to a study published in the American Economic Journal.

U.K. researchers have found pulse oximetry screening to be effective in early diagnosis of congenital heart defects in newborns, according to study findings published Aug. 5 in The Lancet. However, the accompanying editorialists argued that the evidence still seems unsatisfying.

Midwest biomedical companies have raised $315.1 million in the first half of the year, according to a report from Cleveland-based healthcare advocacy group BioEnterprise, which noted particular substantial investment growth in Ohio-based medical start-ups.