Other Articles

How to Get the Surgeon’s Attention
Understanding relationship dynamics and having the chutzpah to put your best creative foot forward can garner you real success as a sales rep. Find out how to bring inventiveness to the sales process so as to attract and retain the surgeon’s attention.

Death Spiral
Since January, ReGen Biologic's stock has fallen from $0.95 per share to $0.04 per share. The number of shares outstanding is up 45% in 9 months. In one case, the company paid a $24,000 vendor bill with 68,572 shares of stock. Still, a couple of particularly savvy orthopedics investors have bought roughly 7% of the stock. Can ReGen survive?

Diving in to the Future
Since 1996 total knee procedures have risen 77% to 455,000 annually. A study presented at AAOS estimates that by 2030 that number grows to 3.48 million knee replacements a year! If infection rates continue to rise at current rates, however, that future will not be nearly as rosy for either patients or industry. Read on.

Selling Yourself: Career Advancement for Sales Reps
Are you considering becoming a distributor or do you plan to advance within a company? Either way, you need to be ready. You will want to know how to make product line choices, hire a sales force, and lead others, among other things.

Mission Unaccomplished: Are the Wheels Coming Off at the FDA?
The FDA is no longer able to fulfill its mission and its wheels are coming off. So says the FDA’s own Science Board in a scathing report. We looked under the hood of the report and here’s what we found.

“Back” to the Future Part II: Technology and the Vertebral Compression Fracture Market
In Part I, our inquiring analyst, Matt Menze, highlighted opportunities for spinal implant manufacturers in the vertebral compression fracture (VCF) market. Now he tackles the thorny issue of new and emerging VCF technologies. What’s on the horizon? Read on.

Second Careers for Orthopedic Surgeons
How should you plan for a change in focus later during your career? You may want to continue utilizing your research, managerial, or presentation skills. Find out what Drs. Ray Linovitz and Stephen Hochschuler have to say about how to stay involved in the field at any stage of one’s career.

Finally, Consolidation in the Allograft Industry
So, where’s Adam Smith’s enlightened self interest when you need it? For about the length of the average U.S. Presidency it’s been clear to anyone who could read an income statement that one important market sector was in need of consolidation. That sector is allograft. With RTI and Tutogen merging, it may finally be happening. Read on.

The Smell of Favoritism, Political Interference, and Back-Room Dealing Alleged in Ortho Deferred Prosecution Deal in Jersey
Amid charges of political favoritism, New Jersey Congressmen call for investigation of ortho deferred prosecution agreements. It’s Jersey and the fur’s flying, read about it here.

The Match Process: Let the Courtship Begin
In the first of three articles, two medical students describe their experiences of the residency match process. Learn their thoughts on interviewing, letters of recommendation, and of course, the pressure to match.

A New “Wave” of Extremity Treatment?
Addressing a market of more than a quarter of a million patients annually with a $5-8,000 treatment sounds like the next multi-billion market. FDA approved, but controversial. What is Extracorporeal Shock Wave Therapy and why should we care? Read on.

Avoiding the Perp Walk, or How to Keep the Justice Department From Knocking on Your Door
We’ve all seen the “Perp Walk” on TV. The defendant cuffed and trying to hide his or her face from the cameras. Will Justice Department and congressional investigations of industry and physician relationships result in a doc taking that walk? Read what a federal prosecutor says about avoiding that indignity.

All the better to see with, my dear…Invibio® has introduced an image contrast grade of its PEEK-OPTIMA® polymer. According to the company, the new image contrast grade offers the superior mechanical, physical, and biocompatible properties of unfilled PEEK-OPTIMA polymer. At the same time, this new version can tailor opacity, enabling medical device manufacturers to develop implants that can be observed more clearly with x-ray and CT imaging modalities while remaining compatible with MRI. Now, it seems manufacturers and surgeons don’t have to make a tradeoff between the ability to verify implant placement and the need to assess the healing site.

Michael Callahan, president of Invibio, comments, “In the past, medical OEMs have been limited with regard to the imaging properties of certain biomaterials. Now these companies have more control over implant opacity and can develop implants that will simplify the postoperative inspection process.”

With this new image contrast grade, manufacturers can produce devices in a variety of ways, for example, by injection molding, extrusion, or machining. Older techniques, such as repeated sterilization using steam, gamma irradiation, or ethylene oxide processes will not adversely affect the mechanical properties or biocompatibility, says the company.

The new polymer is intended for implantable medical and pharmaceutical devices and applications that require blood, bone, or tissue contact for more than 30 days. Spinal spacers, small joint prostheses, and ligament fixation devices are among the current and developing applications for the new contrast grade. The new polymer has marketing potential for orthopedic, spinal, and dental specialties.