ST. PAUL, Minn., Aug. 21, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- EnteroMedics
Inc. (NASDAQ:ETRM), the developer of minimally invasive medical
devices to treat obesity, metabolic diseases and other
gastrointestinal disorders, today announced that MedStar Health
successfully completed its first implant of the Company's vBloc®
Neurometabolic Therapy for a veteran through the Veterans Choice
Program. The surgery was performed on Friday
August 18, 2017 by John S. Brebbia, MD, MBA, FACS,
FASMBS.
"We are so pleased to be a part of a program that allows access
to a safe, durable, non-anatomy-altering solution for patients who
are battling the potentially life-threatening disease of obesity
and its associated comorbidities," said Dr. Brebbia. "While we have
successfully implanted vBloc in the general population at MedStar,
we are honored to now be offering this solution to the many
veterans who qualify for vBloc through the Veterans Choice
Program."
The Federal Veterans Choice Program allows veterans to have the
vBloc procedure within a facility in their local community instead
of at a Department of Veteran's Affairs (VA) hospital,
significantly increasing the accessibility to vBloc for veterans.
According to the VA, in the first quarter of FY2017, they observed
a more than 30 percent increase in authorizations through the
program as compared to the same period in FY2016.
EnteroMedics' previously-announced agreement with Academy Medical
covers the cost of vBloc for qualified veterans in accordance with
their VA health benefits.
About MedStar Health
MedStar Health is a not-for-profit health system dedicated to
caring for people in Maryland and
the Washington, D.C., region,
while advancing the practice of medicine through education,
innovation and research. MedStar's 30,000 associates, 6,000
affiliated physicians, 10 hospitals, ambulatory care and urgent
care centers, and the MedStar Health Research Institute are
recognized regionally and nationally for excellence in medical
care. As the medical education and clinical partner of Georgetown University, MedStar trains more than
1,100 medical residents annually. MedStar Health's patient-first
philosophy combines care, compassion and clinical excellence with
an emphasis on customer service. For more information, visit
MedStarHealth.org.
About vBloc® Therapy
vBloc Therapy works to control sensations of hunger using a
pacemaker-like device that is implanted under the skin during a
safe, minimally invasive procedure that does not alter or remove
any patient anatomy. The vBloc System is designed to give the
patient a sensation of fullness, empowering them to eat less,
control their appetite, and lose weight. Studies have shown that
vBloc Therapy produces meaningful weight loss while also reducing
comorbidity factors related to obesity.
vBloc Therapy is approved for use in people aged 18 years and
older who are obese, with a BMI of 40 to 45 kg/m2, or a BMI of 35
to 39.9 kg/m2 with a related health condition such as Type 2
diabetes, high blood pressure, high cholesterol levels or
obstructive sleep apnea who have had a poor response to trying to
lose weight under supervision in the last 5 years.
About EnteroMedics Inc.
EnteroMedics is a medical device company focused on the
development and commercialization of technology to treat obesity
and metabolic diseases. vBloc® Neurometabolic Therapy, delivered by
an FDA-approved pacemaker-like device called the vBloc® System, is
designed to help patients feel full and eat less by intermittently
blocking hunger signals on the vagus nerve. EnteroMedics recently
acquired the Gastric Vest System™ through its acquisition of
BarioSurg, Inc.
Forward-Looking Safe Harbor Statement:
This press release contains forward-looking statements within
the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of
1995. These forward-looking statements generally can be identified
by the use of words such as expect," "plan," "anticipate," "could,"
"may," "intend," "will," "continue," "future," other words of
similar meaning and the use of future dates. These forward-looking
statements are based on the current expectations of our management
and involve known and unknown risks and uncertainties that may
cause our actual results, performance or achievements to be
materially different from any future results, performance or
achievements expressed or implied by the forward-looking
statements. Such risks and uncertainties include, among others: our
limited history of operations; our losses since inception and for
the foreseeable future; our limited commercial sales experience
with our vBloc® System for the treatment of obesity in the United States or in any foreign market
other than Australia and the
European Community; the competitive industry in which we operate;
our ability to maintain compliance with the Nasdaq continued
listing requirements; our ability to commercialize our vBloc®
System; our dependence on third parties to initiate and perform our
clinical trials; the need to obtain regulatory approval for any
modifications to our vBloc® System; physician adoption of our
vBloc® System and vBloc® Neurometabolic Therapy; our ability to
obtain third party coding, coverage or payment levels; ongoing
regulatory compliance; our dependence on third party manufacturers
and suppliers; the successful development of our sales and
marketing capabilities; our ability to raise additional capital
when needed; international commercialization and operation; our
ability to attract and retain management and other personnel and to
manage our growth effectively; potential product liability claims;
the cost and management time of operating a public company;
potential healthcare fraud and abuse claims; healthcare legislative
reform; and our ability to obtain and maintain intellectual
property protection for our technology and products. These and
additional risks and uncertainties are described more fully in the
Company's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission,
particularly those factors identified as "risk factors" in Exhibit
99.3 of our current report on Form 8-K filed July 26, 2017. We
are providing this information as of the date of this press release
and do not undertake any obligation to update any forward-looking
statements contained in this document as a result of new
information, future events or otherwise.
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SOURCE EnteroMedics Inc.