St. Jude Medical Announces FDA Approval, FDA Clearance and European CE Mark of New Electrophysiology Products (Business Wire via Yahoo! Finance)
ST. PAUL, Minn.----May 17, 2006--St. Jude Medical, Inc. today announced U.S. Food and Drug Administration approval of its Safire Ablation Catheter, and FDA clearance and European CE Mark for its Inquiry Optima PLUS Steerable Diagnostic Catheter.

FDA Advisory Committee Recommends Approval Of Exelon(R) (rivastigmine Tartrate) In The Treatment Of Dementia Associated (Medical News Today)
Novartis announced thatExelon (rivastigmine tartrate) received a favorable opinion from thePeripheral and Central Nervous System Drugs Advisory Committee of the U.S.Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for the treatment of mild to moderatedementia associated with Parkinson's disease. [click link for full article]

Thoratec Receives FDA Approval of Continued Access Protocol for Bridge Arm of Its HeartMate(R) II Pivotal Trial (PR Newswire via Yahoo! Finance)
Thoratec Corporation , a world leader in products to treat cardiovascular disease, today said that the FDA has approved an IDE supplement that allows enrollment of up to an additional 90 patients in the Bridge-to-Transplantation arm of the company's HeartMate II Phase II trial under a Continued Access Protocol .