Jan 7, 2002
Guidant CEO Appointed to Health and Human Services Advisory Committee
Committee to Advise Government on Medicare and Medicaid Reform
Indianapolis, Ind. - Guidant Corporation (NYSE and PCX: GDT), a world leader in the treatment of coronary artery disease, today announced that Ronald W. Dollens, president and CEO, has been appointed by U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Tommy G. Thompson to serve on a newly created Advisory Committee on Regulatory Reform.
"It is my honor to serve on this prestigious committee and to work with Secretary Thompson and the other distinguished members," said Dollens. "We must ensure that lifesaving medical technologies are made available to patients in the most timely, least burdensome manner possible. I look forward to providing guidance to the secretary in connection with efforts to streamline regulatory processes that today can impede rather than enhance the quality of health care for all Americans. In particular, I look forward to helping ensure that there is improved alignment between the processes of the Food and Drug Administration and the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, thereby facilitating more timely patient access to medical innovation."
The committee is chaired by Douglas L. Wood, a practicing cardiologist at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn. The new panel consists of 27 members, including consumers, doctors and health care professionals, who will advise and make recommendations for changes that would benefit four broad areas: health care delivery, health systems operations, biomedical and health services research, and the development of pharmaceuticals and other products. The committee's first meeting is today at Providence Hospital in Washington, D.C.
Guidant Corporation pioneers lifesaving technology, giving an opportunity for better life today to 7 million cardiac and vascular patients worldwide. The company, driven by a strong entrepreneurial culture of 10,000 employees, develops, manufactures and markets a broad array of products and services that enable less invasive care for some of life's most threatening medical conditions.