A former cath lab medical technician dubbed the “serial infector” has been indicted by a federal grand jury in connection with a hepatitis C outbreak in New Hampshire and several other states.

Ranbaxy Pharmaceuticals has decided to stop manufacturing atorvastatin until it has thoroughly investigated the cause of quality issues and remedied the problem, the FDA announced Nov. 29.

An analysis of AFFIRM data cast doubt on the widespread use of digoxin to manage patients with atrial fibrillation (AF). The drug was associated with a significant increase in all-cause mortality, according to results published online Nov. 26 in the European Heart Journal.

St. Jude Medical has received European CE Mark approval for the Assura portfolio of implantable cardioverter-defibrillators (ICDs) and cardiac resynchronization therapy defibrillators (CRT-Ds).

Patients who undergo bioprosthetic aortic valve replacement surgery likely will benefit from anticoagulation therapy that is extended three months beyond the duration recommended in guidelines, researchers report in the Nov. 28 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association. The results offer compelling evidence to change practice, according to the researchers and authors of a companion editorial.

Two observational studies published Nov. 28 in the Journal of the American Medical Association produced heart failure (HF) treatment efficacy results that differ markedly from the results found in clinical trials of the treatments. 

Merit Medical Systems, a manufacturer and marketer of disposable devices used in cardiology, radiology and endoscopy, has entered into a stock purchase agreement to acquire Thomas Medical Products from GE Healthcare for $167 million.

Researchers analyzed two large cohorts of the general population and found a strong association between incident atrial fibrillation (AF) and sudden cardiac death and between incident AF and non-sudden cardiac death. But editorial writers offered several caveats about the analysis.