Stent Wars

It was interesting to see that this tiny metallic device that remarkably is able to open clogged arteries is such a controversial subject. As far as medical devices go, this is a hot item for company sales. Consider the fact that it is a few milligrams of lowly stainless steel (not even some Titanium or Zirconium super-duper Rare-Earth type substance) and it retails for 15K USD. It stands to reason that most of the cost of this item rests in patent costs, r&d and testing. I was a bit aghast at the price of these things until I recently found out that this is a niche industry that has been plagued by some patent gang-wars. There are largely 3 players, all American. Medtronic, Johnson and Johnson and Boston Scientific. Interestingly all are heavy recruiters of MBAs particularly in recession years..go figure. But ever since the introduction of the first stent in the late nineties, Boston Scientific litigated against J&J saying that it stole the technology of "medicated" stents from them. Originally in 2005, the court had ruled in favor of BS. J&J appealed, and the Appeals court recently reversed the decision. Basically, it told BS not to BS. Apparently the "medicated" stent was basically putting some chemical on the surface of the stent to prevent local reclogging (basically the chemical would be some sort of a blood thinner). And so, the appeals court said that this technology was "obvious" and did not even deserve a patent. This is quite hilarious, a bit like Professors trying to take credit for recycled technical papers and pushing them as "original research". Also, it is claimed that Medtronic already had invented a medicated stent way before both these guys. Atleast now I know that when one buys a stent for angioplasty, one is paying lawyer bills. I think everyone should strive to make one of their kids grow up to be a lawyer..it hedges a family against a lot of stuff.