Ranbaxy has agreed to pay $500 million to settle a whistleblower lawsuit that claimed the pharmaceutical manufacturer made and distributed adulterated drugs at two facilities in India. The payment includes $350 million as a civil settlement plus $150 million in criminal fines. 

Hugh Calkins, MD, FHRS, CCDS, was named the president of the Heart Rhythm Society (HRS) during the 34th Annual Scientific Sessions, held in Denver last week.  Announced during the Presidents’ Reception on Friday, May 10th, Dr. Calkins now serves as the 35th president of HRS, making Anne M. Gillis, MD, FHRS, the immediate past president. Dr. Calkins is currently a Nicholas J. Fortuin Professor of Cardiology and Professor of Medicine at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine in Baltimore, Maryland.  

The FDA approved Smartview technology to remotely monitor patients with implanted cardiac rhythm management (CRM) devices. The system allows patients to transmit data electronically from implanted cardiac devices to their physicians. 

The Ellipse and Assura portfolio of implantable cardioverter-defibrillators (ICDs) and cardiac resynchronization therapy-defibrillators (CRT-Ds) received CE mark in Europe, St. Jude Medical announced.

Richard Lifton, MD, PhD, chair of the genetics department at Yale University, and Jonathan R. Kaltman, MD, chief of the Heart Development and Structural Diseases Branch at the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute, discuss genetic causes of heart disease in a video.  Findings from the research team’s large-scale sequencing analysis of congenital heart disease were published online May 12 in Nature. 

The American Heart Association and Macy’s have awarded 16 scholarships of $2,500 each to increase culturally-sensitive, patient-centered care.

The New York Times published a feature article that detailed a research effort to unravel the genetic underpinnings of cardiovascular disease. Members of one family with a history of heart-related deaths have agreed to participate in the study.

Today Ted A. Bass, M.D., FSCAI, announced that the focus of his term as the 36th President of the Society for Cardiovascular Angiography and Interventions will be to expand SCAI’s commitment to quality improvement in invasive and interventional cardiology. Dr. Bass was inducted at the SCAI 2013 Scientific Sessions, where he led a Town Hall-style discussion among attendees about the opportunities and challenges facing the specialty.