Alliances Medline Finalizes Deal: Mundelein, Ill.-based Medline Industries and Irving, Texas-based Carrington Laboratories have signed a five-year distribution agreement that gives Medline exclusive rights to sell and market Carrington's wound and skin care products.

Dedicated Distribution Aligns With Victor Medical: Kansas City, Kan.-based Dedicated Distribution has formed a distribution alliance with St. Louis-based Victor Medical. The intent of the partnership, officials said, is to provide easier and faster access to Victor's products.

Unicare Signs Agreement: Toronto-based Unicare Medical, a distributor of durable medical equipment, is partnering with The Global Group of Companies to enhance manufacturing processes and broaden sales. Global markets and distributes office furniture and has a small health care division that manufactures specialty furnishings.

People & Places Sunrise Hires CFO: James Fetter was named senior vice president and chief financial officer for Carlsbad, Calif.-based Sunrise Medical. Previously head of finance for North American operations, Fetter replaces Ted Tarbet, who resigned to pursue other career options, although he will continue to consult for Sunrise part time. In other news, an investor group that includes members of the company's senior management has completed its tender offer for all outstanding shares of Sunrise's common stock. With the deal, Sunrise will merge with VSM Acquisition Corp., the entity created by the investor group to purchase the shares.

Fast Track Appoints New VP: Mark Hovde is the new vice president for commercial operations for San Mateo, Calif.-based Fast Track Systems. Co-founder of Fort Washington, Pa.-based DataEdge, Hovde will develop partnerships with pharmaceutical companies and clinical sites.

Respironics Selects New Board Member: Pittsburgh-based Respironics has elected Sean McDonald to its board of directors. McDonald, 40, is president and chief executive officer of Precision Therapeutics, a cancer management services company in Pittsburgh. Directors James Hardie and Joseph Lawyer were re-elected to their board positions.

Milestones Invacare Athletes Medal: Thirty-nine athletes using Elyria, Ohio-based Invacare's Top End wheelchairs won 74 medals at the 2000 Paralympics-30 gold medals, 26 silver and 18 bronze. The athletes dominated the Games in tennis and track.

Sunrise Chairs Roll at Paralympics: More than 70 athletes using Carlsbad, Calif.-based Sunrise Medical's Quickie and Sopur wheelchairs won 83 medals during the 2000 Paralympics in Sydney, Australia. Team Sunrise members set five world records and two Paralympic records during the Games.

Financials Allied Blames Q1 Decline on Summer Strike: St. Louis-based Allied Healthcare Products posted a net loss of $346,540, or 4 cents a share, for the fiscal 2001 first quarter ended Sept. 30, compared with a net loss of $903,558, or 12 cents a share, for the same quarter the previous year. Chief executive officer Earl Refsland said the poor showing was directly related to the two-month union strike at the company's St. Louis plant in June and July.

Chad Suffers Q2 Loss: Chatsworth, Calif.-based Chad Therapeutics reported a net loss of $685,000, or 7 cents a share, for the fiscal 2000 second quarter ended Sept. 30. It had a net loss of $434,000, or 4 cents a share, for the same quarter last year.

Invacare to Pay Dividend: Elyria, Ohio-based Invacare's board of directors declared a cash dividend for shareholders of $0.0125 a share on common shares and $0.011364 a share on Class B common shares payable Jan. 12.

Aspen Medical Employees Volunteer: More than 45 employees of Long Beach, Calif.-based Aspen Medical Products showed up to cheer on athletes and help set up bike racks and staging areas at the seventh annual San Diego Triathlon Challenge, which benefited the Challenged Athletes Foundation.

MDI Hands Out Cash: Langhorne, Pa.-based Medical Data Institute gave away a number of prizes at its booth at Medtrade in Orlando, Fla., including Palm Pilots and two cash prizes. David Cook, manager of The Medical Store, Indianapolis, went home with $10,000, while Denise Letendre, account manager of SunChoice Medical Supply, Davie, Fla., won $5,000.