St. Jude Medical (St. Paul, Minnesota) reported the first human implant of its Portico transcatheter aortic heart valve. John Webb, MD, director of cardiac catheterization and interventional cardiology at St. Paul's Hospital (Vancouver, British Columbia) performed the procedure. (Medical Device Daily)

Joseph Gulfo, MD, says he applauds the federal government's efforts to improve the medical device approval process and to increase transparency in that process. But, he says, there is a "tragic disconnect" between the FDA's intentions and the agency's actions. (Medical Device Dialy)

Brazil offers a tremendous growth opportunity for healthcare companies but without experts on the ground in Latin America, it can be tricky to navigate the regulatory and commercialization waters there. That's why Venrock and Fred Aslan, MD, a Venrock partner started a commercial-focused company with offices in the U.S. and Brazil aimed at helping med-tech companies launch products in Brazil and other countries in Latin America. (Medical Device Daily)

Fiscal year 2011 was one of the more challenging years in the industry's recent history, according to Medtronic (Minneapolis) CFO Gary Ellis, who told conference call participants this week that the company experienced a "significant slowdown" in its markets early in its fiscal year, driven by the "continued macro-economic downturn, decreased utilization, and increased payor pushback, which affected us, our customers, and the industry." (Medical Device Daily)

Dust storms - like this picture my husband sent me today from Iraq - are a regularly occurring nuisance in the Middle East. As this is Andrew’s third tour of Iraq, I've seen many photos like this one over the last five years that illustrate just how thick the dust actually is over there. I can’t help but think this might be the culprit behind the mysterious respiratory illness Andrew has suffered repeatedly from just since his first Iraq deployment. Although the military doctors he has seen have never been able to diagnose the problem, he has complained of breathing...