More than 2,000 patients in the U.S. have filed suits against Boehringer Ingelheim over its oral anticoagulant dabigatran (Pradaxa). The company confirmed the number to Reuters after a German newspaper initially reported the total.

Aegerion Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (Nasdaq:AEGR), a biopharmaceutical company dedicated to the development and commercialization of innovative therapies for patients with debilitating rare diseases, today announced that Health Canada has granted a Notice of Compliance (NOC) approving JUXTAPID as an adjunct to a low-fat diet and other lipid-lowering drugs, with or without LDL apheresis, to reduce low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) in adult patients with homozygous familial hypercholesterolemia (HoFH).

A subcommittee of the Heart Rhythm Society (HRS) published a list of five treatments and procedures electrophysiologists should avoid in patients with arrhythmias. The five “don’ts” are available on the HRS website.

Boston Scientific (NYSE: BSX) has announced the U.S. launch and first use of the OffRoad™ Re-Entry Catheter System, an important addition to the company's portfolio of tools to treat complete arterial blockages in the major arteries of the legs.  These blockages, called chronic total occlusions (CTOs), are associated with advanced peripheral artery disease (PAD).  The first use of the OffRoad System was performed by J.A. Mustapha, M.D., director of Cardiac Catheterization Laboratories, director of Endovascular Interventions, and director of Cardiovascular Research at Metro Health Hospital in Wyoming, Mich.

eCardio Diagnostics, a leader in remote arrhythmia monitoring services, today announced the opening of its second Independent Diagnostic Testing Facility (IDTF) in San Francisco, California.

The AstraZeneca HealthCare Foundation’s Connections for Cardiovascular HealthSM program today announced a grant of $197,634 to Saint Agnes Hospital Foundation to support its Heart-to-Heart initiative. This is the second consecutive year in which the Saint Agnes Hospital Foundation has received a grant from the AstraZeneca HealthCare Foundation, totaling $442,089.

The AstraZeneca HealthCare Foundation’s Connections for Cardiovascular HealthSM program today announced a grant of $213,094 to Christiana Care Health System to support its No Heart Left Behind program. This is the third consecutive year in which Christiana Care has received a grant from the AstraZeneca HealthCare Foundation, totaling $561,557.

This February during American Heart Month, Vivek Reddy, MD, of Mount Sinai Heart at The Mount Sinai Hospital implanted the United States' first miniature-sized, leadless cardiac pacemaker directly inside a patient's heart without surgery.