What will the Cameron Health S-ICD mean for BSX? Are doctors interested in an ICD that can't pace? Is this a niche product or a game changer?
Is the company positioned to actually sell this?
Most US doctors say minimum from 15% -25% of all their defib implants. The question is whether production can keep up.
The lawyers who cover this industry so well are tracking all vascular lead failures for Defibs that do not require pacing. They will sue any EP who encounters a lead failure, when the EP has a clear choice - the S-ICD. Wait until mid January for the class action lawsuit advertisements to appear on your favorite late night cable channel. Watch the S-ICD implant rate of the key opinion leaders, most have been advised on the situation.
What will the Cameron Health S-ICD mean for BSX? Are doctors interested in an ICD that can't pace? Is this a niche product or a game changer?
Is the company positioned to actually sell this?
To be honest. I would be highly surprised if they sell many of these in the U.S. market. My undestanding of the S-ICD is that its basically a shock box with no pacing capabilities. As any good rep knows, the pain free study was a giant success and how many of your doctors do not use ATP therapy?.....Exactly. The lack of ATP and Post Shock capabilities alone would shy any EP worth his weight in salt away from ths device; not to mention the lack of diagnostic ability, trending, histograms etc. It's an inferior product to the current line.
So now your asking yourself...well WTF, somebody saw value in it, why else would they spend all this time, money and effort on it? The answer is.....3rd world countries.
This device is perfect for somebody at high risk, that is never going to get it checked or does not see a doctor regularly. Slap it in and send them on their way. It makes sense to me, I would like to hear some of your guy's thoughts on it though...without being completely negative dick-bags.
Not to mention the rediculous size/weight, 15 second plus charge time and 5yr longevity...yes we're talking about 1980's technology but the best question yet is "why buy it?" Sure, BSX is already working on a smaller version to re-market but the fact is they are going after creating a new market of implanters.
BSX is losing the device implant race by huge margins and the only way to make up ground is to go after "wanna be" EP's or implanting Cards and convince them that even r*****s can implant these. No real EP will be interested in implanting this device but any hack with an ego who can't access veins or struggles to cross valves will be BSX's prime targets and there are a ton of them out there. BSX is developing another well to draw water from...that's all. This is no threat to existing marketshare it's simply going after a different market of hacks. Wait until all the procedure complications start rolling in and this device will go away quick.
What real EP do you know that is going to start implanting a device with less than 1,000 implants world-wide and less than 5 yrs of lead and device technology data???? BSX was not betting on the Riata story to hit before they got into bed with Cameron, but then again, they did buy Guidant.
Dear desperate rep,
Which lead did you sell Riata/Durata or fidelis. Enough said.
Biotronik had a shock box for sale 10 years ago for 10k. Didn't catch on then. If the price is right Obama won't care about ATP. The time is coming it won't be the docs choice.
What you are referring to was a product called the Cardiac Airbag. The first problem was that it was called the Cardiac Airbag. The larger problem was that it was only on the market for a few months before SCDHeFT opened up indications to include primary prevention. This effectively closed the niche that Airbag occupied.
As with most CafePharma arguments....everyone is oversimplifying. One group wants to believe S-ICD will catch on like wildfire...while the other side wants to believe it will flop. Reality is...it will find a niche. Implanting Cards, first-adopter EPs, and depending on how well the device ACTUALLY performs...a certain percentage of the general EP population.
Niche. A small one at that.
Best response on this thread. I would rather have this option in my bag than without. Great case studies on young athletes with this device and patients with multiple failed leads. This technology will become more elegant in the very near future and the fact of the matter is, if you were an EP calling for a case, wouldn't you want the rep with the most options for patients?
