Alliance
ResMed and MedCath Form Strategic Alliance to Address Sleep-Disordered Breathing and Cardiovascular Disease: ResMed, based in San Diego, and MedCath — a national provider of cardiovascular services based in Charlotte, N.C. — have formed a strategic alliance in which MedCath will offer sleep-disordered-breathing screening, diagnosis and treatment, in addition to services the company currently offers through its cardiovascular diagnostic centers. The Pikes Peak Cardiovascular Lab in Colorado Springs, Colo., the first cardiovascular sleep lab established under the alliance, began diagnosing patients in December 2002.
Noteworthy
Respironics Consolidates Manufacturing for Hospital Division: In what the company is calling its “final step” toward integrating the recent acquisition of Novametrix Medical Systems, Respironics, Murrysville, Pa., is consolidating its hospital-division manufacturing.
Under the consolidation, manufacturing and support functions for Respironics' hospital division will move from a Wallingford, Conn.-based plant to a Carlsbad, Calif.-based plant. The move “will allow the company to standardize its manufacturing, support and engineering functions at the Carlsbad plant; will enable the Wallingford facility to concentrate on new-product research and development; and will improve the overall efficiency of the hospital division,” Respironics said.
Respironics expects to save more than $2.5 million per year as a result of the consolidation, and the company promises to redirect these funds toward research, development and marketing. The consolidation will cost approximately $8 million and will take place during “a one-year period,” the company said.
The previously announced consolidation of Respironics' Homecare Division's Kennesaw, Ga., plant will be complete by June 30, 2003, the company added.
Abbott Labs to Discontinue Needle Use in Intravenous Sets: Abbott Laboratories, Abbott Park, Ill., said it would phase out by June all intravenous sets that contain or require needles. Instead, the company said it would use a needle-free technology across its entire line of infusion therapy products.
Research
Study: Heart Function Improves with Treatment of Sleep Apnea: Treating sleep apnea with a continuous positive airway pressure, or CPAP, device significantly improves heart function in patients with congestive heart failure and obstructive sleep apnea, according to a study funded in part by Murrysville, Pa-based Respironics and published in the March 27 issue of The New England Journal of Medicine.
The study, titled “Cardiovascular Effects of Continuous Positive Airway Pressure in Patients with Heart Failure and Obstructive Sleep Apnea,” tested 24 patients with heart failure and OSA at Toronto General Hospital, University Health Network, Mount Sinai Hospital and the Toronto Rehabilitation Institute.
Patients receiving CPAP treatment experienced 80 percent fewer OSA episodes. Additionally, those patients' hearts pumped 35 percent more blood than prior to CPAP therapy. The patients receiving CPAP therapy also experienced a decrease in heart size, blood pressure and heart rate.
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