Cardinal Health says Chinese supplier behind massive surgical gowns recall
Cardinal Health (Dublin, OH) announced it is initiating two voluntary field actions for select Cardinal Health Presource Procedure Packs containing gowns that were part of last week’s recall of AAMI Level 3 surgical gowns. These procedure packs, also known as kits, had been placed on voluntary hold at the time of the gown recall. Cardinal Health is initiating actions involving 2.9 million procedure packs manufactured between September 2018 and January 2020 that contain affected gowns. The affected procedure packs were placed on hold earlier this month. The gowns in the procedure packs are a subset of the 9.1 million gowns recalled last week. The decision to recall the packs was based on information Cardinal Health received in December that one of its FDA-authorized suppliers in China, Siyang Holymed, had shifted production of some gowns to unapproved sites, in uncontrolled environments and therefore could not ensure their sterility. Cardinal Health has since terminated its relationship with Siyang Holymed
Midmark names Jon Dill as CFO, Randy Burton to VP, marketing
Midmark Corp., announced Jon Dill joined the company as chief financial officer on Feb. 3, 2020. Bob Morris, current Midmark CFO, will work with his successor through the transition before his approaching retirement the end of March. As CFO, Dill will have the responsibility for finance and accounting teams, including financial reporting, budgeting, forecasting, treasury, legal and taxation, and will report to John Baumann, president and CEO. Dill brings more than 30 years of experience in finance. He most recently served as operating executive at Orchard Holdings, an investment firm in Cincinnati, where he advised the management teams of the portfolio companies while optimizing portfolio synergies.
Midmark also announced Randy Burton was named to vice president, marketing. In this leadership position, Burton will lead the upstream and downstream marketing departments to support strategic growth and the Midmark brand. Burton comes to Midmark from the role of director of business development at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center where he was especially effective in establishing strategic pediatric partnerships that support the needs of regional hospitals and healthcare systems, as well as expanding its portfolio of services including the launch of their new Mobile Care Center. Prior to this, Burton has held strategic roles at Johnson & Johnson (J&J) and Humana. His diverse healthcare experience includes successful leadership across strategic marketing, medical device new product development, brand management, business development and market research. In addition, he has been recognized for collaborative leadership and building high performing teams.
WHO names coronavirus outbreak a public health emergency of international concern
In late January, the World Health Organization (WHO) named the coronavirus outbreak a public health emergency of international concern (PHEIC). It is the fifth time in 13 years since global regulations have been in effect that an outbreak has met these conditions. International Health Regulations were first used to declare a public health emergency of international concern for the H1N1 pandemic in 2009. Other examples include the 2019 Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and the 2016 Zika virus. A public health emergency of international concern requires a response from states and may also require a coordinated international response, according to WHO. The rise in coronavirus cases in the past week and the spread of the virus from China to additional countries led WHO to declare a PHEIC. The latest figures show that 7,834 people have been sickened worldwide and at least 170 people have died in China. There are now 98 confirmed cases in 18 countries outside of China, including eight person-to-person transmissions in Germany, Japan, Vietnam and the U.S.
New Vizient drug price forecast estimates 3.59% increase for 2020-2021
Vizient, Inc. (Irving, TX) released its Winter 2020 Drug Price Forecast projecting that health systems, including inpatient and non-acute environments, can expect a 3.59% increase for pharmaceutical purchases made from July 1, 2020 to June 30, 2021. The influence of expensive biologic therapies, oncology and oncology-related drugs, disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs (DMARDs), and immunomodulators on overall spend by health systems remains substantial, though the forecasted percentage is lower than previous projections.