HeartWare initiated a voluntary field correction advising healthcare professionals Feb. 7 to inspect the driveline connector housing of the HVAD pump during routine clinic visits due to a potential safety concern.

Researchers conducting an observational study of participants in randomized stroke trials have concluded that many stroke patients for whom thrombolysis is contraindicated may benefit from the treatment.

Merck successfully fended off the generics company Mylan in a court battle over its cholesterol-lowering drugs ezetimibe (Zetia) and ezetimibe/simvastatin (Vytorin).

St. Joseph’s Medical Center in Towson, Md., has reached a settlement with the U.S. to pay $4.9 million in connection with its submission of false claims to Medicare, Medicaid and other federal healthcare programs, according to an annoucement from the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ).

Are there treatments for events such as intracerebral hemorrhage that offer better outcomes, perhaps at a lower cost, than standard medical care? That question and others are being pondered this week at the American Stroke Association’s International Stroke Conference in Honolulu.

The prognosis for intracerebral hemorrhage (ICH) patients may not be as dire as many treating physicians assume, and a significant percentage of such patients may recover an acceptable level of function over time, according to a study comparing ICH patients whose life support was withdrawn to similar patients who remained on life support.

There were similar safety outcomes and no significant differences in functional independence with endovascular therapy after intravenous tissue plasminogen activator (t-PA), as compared with intravenous t-PA alone in patients with moderate-to-severe acute ischemic stroke. The IMS III trial, which was stopped early due to “futility,” was published Feb. 7 ahead of print in the New England Journal of Medicine.

The FDA has granted Cardiva Medical's premarket approval for the Vascade vascular closure system.