Even as pharmaceutical companies develop safer and more effective drugs, the costs of those medications are becoming a concern for healthcare executives, hospitals, payers and patients.

For the first quarter of fiscal year 2016, Medtronic’s revenue increased 12 percent compared with the same time period last year thanks to an extra week in the quarter and its acquisition of Covidien, according to earnings results announced by the company.

Abbott Laboratories denied a Financial Times report that it was prepared to bid $25 billion to acquire St. Jude Medical. St. Jude, which is based in Minnesota, declined to comment when contacted by the Minneapolis Star Tribune.

Greatbatch announced on Aug. 27 that it agreed to acquire Lake Region Medical for approximately $1.73 billion. The deal, which has been unanimously approved by both companies’ boards of directors, is expected to close by the fourth quarter of 2015 pending regulatory reviews and other closing conditions.

Edwards Lifesciences Corporation (NYSE: EW), the global leader in the science of heart valves and hemodynamic monitoring, today announced that it has closed its acquisition of CardiAQ Valve Technologies, Inc., a privately held company and developer of a transcatheter mitral valve replacement system.

More than 70 percent of Americans believe drug prices are unreasonable and nearly 25 percent have trouble paying for their prescription medications, according to a Kaiser Family Foundation poll released on Aug. 20.

St. Mary's Medical Center in West Palm Beach, Fla. closed its pediatric cardiothoracic surgery program after a CNN investigation revealed the program's high mortality rate. The Sun Sentinel reported that St. Mary's blamed "inaccurate media reports" for why it closed the program.

Abiomed, Inc. (Nasdaq:ABMD), a leading provider of breakthrough heart support technologies, announced today that it has entered into a corporate partnership with Fenway Park and will be bringing its Impella Mobile Learning Lab to the historic baseball stadium tomorrow.