Medtronic, Inc. (NYSE: MDT), based in suburban Minneapolis, Minnesota, is theworld’s largest medical technology company and is a Fortune 500 company.
Medtronic was founded in 1949 in a garage in northeast Minneapolis by Earl Bakken and his brother-in-law Palmer Hermundslie as a medical equipment repair shop. They originally wanted to sell basketball pumps
due to a shortage in the Midwest in the 20th century. Bakken began as a graduate student in electrical engineering at the University of Minnesota before he gave up his studies to focus on Medtronic.
due to a shortage in the Midwest in the 20th century. Bakken began as a graduate student in electrical engineering at the University of Minnesota before he gave up his studies to focus on Medtronic.
Through their repair business, Bakken came to know C. Walton Lillehei, a pioneer in the field of heart surgery then at the University of Minnesota Medical School. Lillehei was frustrated with the pacemakers of the day, which were quite large, applied electrical current externally (requiring higher voltages), and had to be plugged in to a wall outlet to operate. The deficiencies of such pacemakers were made painfully obvious following a power outage over Halloween in 1957 which affected large sections of Minnesota and western Wisconsin.As a direct result of this blackout, a pediatric patient of Dr. Lillehei who was pacemaker-dependent died. The next day, Lillehei spoke with Bakken about developing some form of battery-powered pacemaker. Stemming from this need, Bakken modified a design for a transistorized metronome to create the first battery-powered external artificial pacemaker.
The company expanded through the 1950s, mostly selling equipment built by other companies, but also developing some custom devices. Bakken built a small transistorized pacemaker that could be strapped to the body and powered by batteries. Work into this new field continued, producing an implantable pacemaker in 1960. Medtronic’s main competitors in the cardiac rhythm field includeStryker Corporation, Boston Scientific and St. Jude Medical.
The company remains focused on the mission originally written by co-founder Earl Bakken in the early-1960s.[citation needed] The first sentence of the six-paragraph mission statement reads:
“ To contribute to human welfare by application of biomedical engineering in the research, design, manufacture, and sale of instruments or appliances that alleviate pain, restore health, and extend life. ”
Business units
Medtronic is composed of six main business units which develop and manufacture devices and therapies to treat more than 30 chronic diseases, including (but not limited to) heart failure, Parkinson’s disease, urinary incontinence, obesity, chronic pain, spinal disorders, and diabetes.
Spinal & Biologics
Spinal and Biologics is Medtronic’s second largest business, and Medtronic is the world leader in spinal and musculoskeletal therapies. In 2007, Medtronic purchased Kyphon, a manufacturer and seller of spinal implants necessary for procedures like kyphoplasty.
In May, 2008, Medtronic Spine agreed to pay the U.S. government $75 million to settle a qui tam (whistleblower) lawsuit alleging that Medtronic committed Medicare fraud. The company was charged with illegally convincing healthcare providers to offer kryphoplasty, a spinal fracture repair surgery, as an inpatient rather than outpatient procedure, thereby making thousands more in profits per surgery.
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