Senator Al Franken (D-MN), along with cosponsors Senators Lamar Alexander (R-TN) and John Kerry (D-MA), introduced the Patient Access to Medical Innovation act this week in an effort to expedite time to market for innovative medical devices. “After speaking with countless patients, doctors, and members of the medical device industry in Minnesota, I’ve learned that certain barriers in the regulatory process are making it harder to get patients the medical devices they need,” Franken says. “My legislation would remove unnecessary barriers so that these critical medical devices get to the patients that need them as quickly and safely as possible.”  The bill aims to "promote the development of devices to treat patients with rare diseases; help improve FDA's approval process for medical devices by allowing the agency to more easily consult with experts; and lift the current profit cap on 'humanitarian-use devices.'" Read about the bill and other top stories of the week in the roundup below.

• Sen. Franken Introduces Bill to Get Medical Devices to Market More Quickly and Safely
• MPMN's Top Products and Services of 2011 (MPMN)
• Stryker Cites Device Tax as Reason Behind Layoffs (MD+DI)
• Did Medtronic Sell an Unsafe Product? (Minnesota StarTribune)
• Hey, Where Is Everybody Going? The Flight from Healthcare Investing (Xconomy)
• Velcro? At Medica? Really? (medtechinsider)