Months after the U.S. FDA approved a device with the potential to close the source of many atrial fibrillation-related strokes, hospitals, cardiologists and patients find themselves in a holding pattern increasingly common for newly emerging therapies: They are waiting for the CMS to issue a national coverage determination for LAA occlusion.

One morning last year, a patient checked into a hospital in Canada as the first TAVR case of the day, and they were discharge by that evening. It was an eyebrow-raising feat for a procedure that typically requires several days of hospitalization.

Medtronic announced on Jan. 11 that it will return $5 billion to shareholders through share repurchases by the end of fiscal year 2018.

Oxford Endovascular, a medical device company spinout from the University of Oxford in England, has raised £2m (approximately $2.9 million) to develop a small metallic mesh tube to treat intracranial aneurysms.

A recent study suggests the Watchman may save money and be more cost-effective than novel oral anticoagulants in the long-run.

Harold Persaud, MD, a cardiologist from Ohio, was sentenced to 20 years in prison on Dec. 18 for overbilling Medicare and private insurance companies by $29 million between 2006 and 2012. The Department of Justice announced the sentence on Dec. 18.

A model found that treatment with novel oral anticoagulants or the Watchman device were more cost-effective than warfarin to reduce the lifetime stroke risk of patients with nonvalvular atrial fibrillation.

Medtronic announced on Dec. 11 that it would pay a cash dividend of $0.38 per ordinary share for the third quarter of fiscal year 2016.