FDA Recalls Nearly 500,000 Pacemakers Due To Hacking Risk

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration recalled approximately 465,000 pacemakers this week after concerns started to grow over the devices vulnerability to hacking. The recall, announced on Tuesday , is not intended to remove the pacemakers as that would be not only invasive but would also put the patient at serious risk since medical procedures involving pacemakers are often complex; rather, the manufacturer created a new firmware update that medical professionals can apply to the patient.

Top Drug Manufacturer To Florida: Don’t Use Our Drugs For Executions

A subsidiary company of Johnson & Johnson , the world's largest pharmaceutical manufacturer, came out in protest Monday against Florida using its drugs to perform lethal injection executions. Florida resorted to using J&J's etomidate anesthetic after the state ran out of the more traditional sedative midazolam earlier this year.

LA Times ousts editor-publisher and other top managers

The Los Angeles Times' parent company is bringing in a new publisher, editor and other top newsroom managers in a shake-up it says is part of a plan to move one of the nation's flagship newspapers more quickly into... The Los Angeles Times' parent company is bringing in a new publisher, editor and other top newsroom managers in a shake-up it says is part of a plan to move one of the nation's flagship newspapers more quickly into the digital age. Officials have suspended the search for five Army soldiers who were in a helicopter crash during offshore training in Hawaii last week.

UPDATE 1-Merck CEO pulls out of Trump panel, demands rejection of bigotry

The departure of Kenneth Frazier from the president's American Manufacturing Council added to a storm of criticism of Trump over his handling of Saturday's violence in Charlottesville, in which a woman was killed when a man drove his car into a group of counter-protesters. Democrats and Republicans have attacked the Republican president for waiting too long to address the violence, and for saying "many sides" were involved rather than explicitly condemning white-supremacist marchers widely seen as sparking the melee.

Merck CEO leaves Trump council over far right march

Merck & Co chief executive Kenneth Frazier has resigned from US President Donald Trump's American Manufacturing Council, saying he was taking a stand against intolerance and extremism. A gathering of hundreds of white nationalists in Virginia took a deadly turn on Saturday when a car ploughed into a group of counter-protesters and killed at least one person.

Forging ahead: Us M&a H1 2017: Healthcare deals flourish, but uncertainty looms large

Dealmaking in the pharmaceuticals and healthcare sector saw a rebound in H1 2017, with deal value increasing 51.8 percent compared to the preceding half-year. The sector delivered 244 deals worth US$98.2 billion during the period, making it the third-largest industry by deal value and fourth-largest by deal volume.

Hackensack Meridian Health Vice President Named to Becker’s Hospital Review: Rising Stars in …

Jose Lozano honored for outstanding efforts in the merger of two major health networks and development of new medical school Edison, NJ- Hackensack Meridian Health, the state's most comprehensive and integrated health care network, announced that Jose Lozano, chief of staff, vice president, corporate services and governance for the network, was named to Becker's Hospital Review: Rising Stars in Healthcare 2017 - 60 under 40. Mr. Lozano played an instrumental role in the merger of Meridian Health and the Hackensack University Health Network last year, which has resulted in a dynamic partnership with 13 hospitals in seven counties and plans to open a new medical school with Seton Hall University next year.

Gov’t report: Progress reducing US uninsured stalled in 2016

In this Oct. 24, 2016 file photo, the HealthCare.gov 2017 web site home page is seen on a laptop in Washington. After five consecutive years of coverage gains, progress reducing the number of uninsured Americans stalled in 2016, according to a government report that highlights the stakes as Republicans try to roll back Barack Obama's law.

U.S. Supreme Court may limit where companies can be sued

U.S. Supreme Court justices on Tuesday signaled a willingness to place limits on where corporations can be sued in a dispute involving drug maker Bristol-Myers Squibb Co, a potential setback to plaintiffs' lawyers who try to bring suits in friendly courts. The justices heard arguments in Bristol-Myers' appeal of a California Supreme Court ruling allowing that state's courts to hear claims related to its blood-thinning medication Plavix even though most plaintiffs do not live in the state and the company is not based there.

RPT-After Trump rally, equity investors move into healthcare, retailers

High U.S. share prices are pushing Lipper Award-winning equity fund managers into the shares of beaten-down healthcare companies, retailers and emerging-market stocks that they say offer a greater chance for outsized gains. Fund managers from Poplar Forest, Parnassus Investments and Brandes Investment Partners are among the 2017 Lipper Award winners who are concerned about the high valuation of the benchmark S&P 500 index.

Senators demand better information from DEA on opioid campaign

Seven U.S. senators sharply criticized the Drug Enforcement Administration on Wednesday for failing to answer questions about enforcement actions against pharmaceutical companies accused of violating laws designed to prevent painkillers from reaching the black market. "We received an insufficient response that ignored those questions almost entirely and recited boilerplate information about the DEA's mission," said the letter to the acting DEA administrator, Chuck Rosenberg.

This Marijuana Company’s in Hot Water With the DOJ

Ongoing investigations into the marketing of its once high-flying fentanyl spray, Subsys, have taken a lot of the luster off Insys Therapeutics ' attempt to reshape marijuana's use as medicine. Today, investigations by the Justice Department led to the arrest of former Insys Therapeutics employees, including former CEO Michael Babich, casting more uncertainty on this company's future.