The new technology add-on payment for the TAG thoracic branch endoprosthesis is likely coming to an end, but the device’s manufacturer, Gore Medical Inc., petitioned CMS to reassign the procedure to a new diagnostic-related group that would more accurately reflect the costs of the related procedure.

In a roadmap to change animal testing requirements for INDs, the U.S. FDA said its new approach will improve drug safety, hasten the evaluation process, and lower costs for companies and patients. It’s another step in a process of changing rules put in place decades ago.

The battle to claim the continuous glucose monitor with the longest wear time continues with Dexcom Inc.’s G7 15 Day continuous glucose monitor gaining U.S. FDA clearance on April 10 for adults with diabetes. The company said it now takes the lead with the 15-day duration, but Abbott Laboratories also offers 15 days of useful life for its Freestyle Libre 3 plus.

Cardiovia Ltd.' Viaone epicardial access system received U.S. FDA clearance for treating cardiac arrhythmias. The device provides clinicians with a safe and minimally invasive technology to reach the heart’s outer surface, known as the pericardial space, without the need for a sharp needle, which can cause perforation.

The thicket of state-based privacy regulation in the U.S. grows thicker by the day, but Congress seems poised to step in with a bipartisan group that may propose legislation that preempts privacy law.

“We’ve lost 1,000 person-years of expertise in a few weeks,” former U.S. FDA Commissioner David Kessler said in an April 9 House Oversight and Government Reform hearing as he discussed the impact of the termination of 3,500 FDA employees the previous week, on top of the 1,000 who were let go or offered retirement in February.

Boston Scientific Corp.’s up to $664 million acquisition of Bolt Medical Inc. closed just days after Bolt secured U.S. FDA 520(k) clearance for its intravascular lithotripsy (IVL) system, positioning Boston Sci to challenge Johnson & Johnson’s Shockwave IVL system, which has been the only player in the market.

The U.S. FDA has cleared regenerative medicine company Orthocell Ltd.’s 510(k) for its nerve repair product, Remplir, paving the way to begin commercial operations in the $1.6 billion U.S. nerve repair market.

Some say it’s not what you say but how you say it, but the U.S. FDA’s Feb. 10, 2025, warning letter to Denver-based Exer Labs Inc., makes clear that a 510(k)-exempt device can’t be altered and promoted for claims that are disallowed under the regulation.

The EU’s Medical Devices Coordination Group (MDCG) issued another revision of its guidance for risk classification for in vitro diagnostics — the fourth such rewrite of a guidance that came out in 2020.