Abbott Labs’ surprise guidance bump is a major positive for investors

Abbott Laboratories delivered a top and bottom line beat Wednesday and surprised investors by raising its full-year guidance — a show of confidence by the medical device maker not seen in a first quarter since 2016. Revenue for the three months ended March 31 rose slightly more than 2% year over year to $9.96 billion, … Read more

Company that made millions of defective sleep apnea machines ordered to overhaul manufacturing

WASHINGTON — The company responsible for a global recall of sleep apnea machines will be barred from resuming production at U.S. facilities until it meets a number of safety requirements, under a long-awaited settlement announced Tuesday by federal officials. Philips will be required to overhaul its manufacturing and quality control systems and hire independent experts … Read more

J&J to pump another $13B into its MedTech business with Shockwave deal

Johnson & Johnson is pumping more money into heart care with a roughly $13 billion deal for Shockwave Medical, which specializes in technology that helps open clogged arteries. The health care giant said Friday that it will spend $335 in cash for each share of Shockwave. The total deal value includes cash acquired. The deal … Read more

EPA tightens limits on a chemical used to sterilize medical equipment, citing cancer risk

WASHINGTON — The Environmental Protection Agency is imposing stricter limits on a chemical used to sterilize medical equipment after finding a higher-than-expected cancer risk at facilities that use ethylene oxide to clean billions of devices including catheters and syringes. A rule finalized Thursday will reduce ethylene oxide emissions by about 90% by targeting nearly 90 … Read more

Insurer delays and denials hamper patients seeking at-home breathing machines

Lou Gehrig’s disease took away Grace Armant’s ability to speak, but the 84-year-old still has plenty to say about her insurance. UnitedHealthcare has rejected several requests from her doctors for coverage of a machine Armant needs to breathe as she deals with the fatal illness. “They are no good,” Armant said, typing slowly into a … Read more

Executive is convicted of insider trading related to medical device firm acquisition

ST. PAUL, Minn. — An executive at a medical device company has been convicted in Minnesota of insider trading for a scheme involving negotiations for the acquisition of the firm that was valued at $1.6 billion, federal prosecutors said Tuesday. Doron Tavlin was a vice president for business development at the Minneapolis office of Mazor … Read more

FDA warns against smartwatches and rings that claim to measure blood sugar without needles

Smartwatches and rings that claim to measure blood sugar levels for medical purposes without piercing the skin could be dangerous and should be avoided, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration warned Wednesday. The caution applies to any watch or ring, regardless of brand, that claims to measure blood glucose levels in a noninvasive way, the … Read more

The war took away their limbs. Now bionic prostheses empower wounded Ukrainian soldiers

KYIV, Ukraine — When Alexis Cholas lost his right arm as a volunteer combat medic near the front lines in eastern Ukraine, his civilian career as a surgeon was over. But thanks to a new bionic arm, he was able to continue working in health care and is now a rehab specialist helping other amputees. … Read more