Tuesday, December 13, 2011

2011 - A Year to Lick Your Chops or Lick Your Wounds

Yes fellow Spineophiles, its that time again, when Santa comes down the chimney with echoes of "Ho, Ho, Ho, Santa's got to go, he's got to bring toys for l'il girls and l'il boys."  As we rapidly approach the end of another year in the wacky world of spine its time for TSB to look at the winners and losers for 2011.

January brought us a deep freeze, depending on where you were.  Though these companies were use to warmer climates, revelry played out for Cardo Medical and Facet Solutions.  Cardo couldn't get out of their own way, the blind leading the blind, attempting to capitalize on its acquisition of Vertebron, laid this dog to rest once and for all, while Facet Solutions was gobbled up by Globus Medical, aka, when will they go public, for pennies on the dollar.

February had Nuvasive cautioning analysts' that the winds of change were coming, inevitably experiencing a smack down by the marketplace and the Street.  Even Bill Walton wasn't capable of posting up Lukianov considering that even with XliF, Walton is running on bad wheels.  Thank goodness that Memphis is winning at the box office, considering that the stock has been a chihuahua lately, hey Yoquero where's the chalupa? Can I hear $11 dollars?  By the way, for all of those drinking the kool-aid, it is purple isn't it, spare us the complaints of NuVa bashing, it is what it is, a one trick pony, is all that horse can do, it's a one trick only, it's the principal source of their revenue.

March came in like a lion when DMT better known as "no motion" experienced a capital crunch, along with Applied Spine being sold to Rachiotek for pennies on the dollar.  Love Panjabi, but his advisors and investors should've been fired a long time ago. It was during the Ides that the first shot was really fired at INFUSE putting the holy grail of biologics under the electron microscope.  March entered riding the lion, but left like a lamb.

April brought us headline news with Dr. Makker and Sundaresan making the cover of various media outlets with questionable practices, while  Zimmer and Wright Medical made their own news announcing the hiring of Paul Graveline and the resignation of Gary Henley as CEO, but the big story in spine was the pending acquisition of Synthes by J&J.  Will the arbeitsgemeinschaft osteosynthes fragen ever be the same?  Synthes was always more Armani than Brooks Brothers, at least during yesteryear, today, they should fit in well considering that the company was and is run by a pharma dweeb who looks at salespeople as a necessary evil.

May had Larry Biegelsen, a Wells Fargo analyst touting that the acquisition of Synthes by J&J could benefit Zimmer, well Larry, don't want to disappoint you, but we're still waiting, and waiting, and waiting. Medtronic announced and initiated layoffs, while John Viscogliosi hit the road entering Centinel Spine in every Bar-B-Que contest East of the Mississippi. Wasn't he running a spine company?  The NJ State Board of Medical Examiners levied civil penalties against Drs. Errico, Balderston and Goldstein for failing to disclose to their institution their financial interest in ProDisc using the widely held Jon Corzine defense, it was merely an oversight.  But the big story in May was the resurgence and advocacy of POD's.  It's truly a shame that surgeons can't earn a living being surgeons, they now insist on being salesmen, c'est la vie.  The silicon chip inside Tony Koblish's head finally switched to overload and Orthovita was sold to Stryker for $316 mil in cash. You know what Henry Butler of The Three Kings sang, "let the good times roll." It
was in May that we poked fun at our favorite whipping boys, the stock analysts' of the device world. Where are those smart guys?  As ATEC stock continues to plummet it's awfully quiet on the home front. In May we announced 20% is a thing of the past, unless you're a POD, and everyone was tightening their belts leading to a year of fiscal austerity in spine.

June had TSB announcing the departure of Mike Mogul from Stryker, and a Federal Appeals Court overruled that the trial judge from the First District Court in Boston had applied the False Claims Act and Anti-Kickback Statute too strictly in the Whistleblower case against Blackstone.  Poor Orthofix, talk about being kicked in the nuts,  they like paying their executives wonderful bonuses, maybe its time they settle this suit and move on to better things, just like Medtronic did this week.  Ortho-fix should just clean up that dog of a spine division formerly known as Blackstone, SUCKERS!!!! Norian was sold to Kensey Nash and TSB announced that there would definitely be jail time after the verdict in the Trial of the West Chester Four.  The Guyer Family experienced their own loss when Jeff Guyer passed away in June.  Hopefully, the Guyer's will have a peaceful holiday season. POD's and attacks on sales people become the topic du jour and Ortho-fix announced the resignation of Alan Milanazzo whereby TSB provided the play by play of that stellar career.

July brought us the Spirit of Edgar Dawson and the ghost of Marshall Urist and many of our readers responded with passion regarding BMP's.  Synthes and Globus entered into the ring for another suit. Could this have been Wyss' parting shot at David Paul?  The FDA issued a warning label to AlphaWreck for PureGen resulting in pink slips in the Biologics Division at d'Wreck.  July was quiet as it usually is.

August had us asking the question whether technology was distracting the Art of Surgery.  Even Jack White formerly of the Raconteurs and White Stripes commented that technology may make things easier, but, does it takes away from man's creativity?  Once again, it takes an artist to shed some reality on the facts of life.  Are we training a generation of surgeons that will lack the necessary skills to know how to operate?  That was the six million dollar question that a veteran of surgery posed.  Once again, the market for spine was down graded.  Rachiotek and Yale University filed suit against everyone's whipping boy, Globus when it comes to law suits.  Synthes, Medtronic, Rachiotek?  TSB could hear Sonny and Cher in the background, "and the beat goes on, and the beat goes on, the drum keep pounding a rhythm to his brain."

September  brought us memories of the Ali-Wepner fight when Medtronic and Nuva geared up for the Rope-a-Dope, while Sharp's and Scripp's hospital systems issued a storm warning on POD's claiming that they were unwelcome at their facilities.  Did anything really happen? NuVa took it on the chin and their stock plummeted to 18.65, leaving TSB to ask the question, will they ever see 18.65 again?  By the looks of their recent performance, even the analysts' aren't drinking the kool-aid.

October brought us boot camp for the Spine Technology Awards as everyone was polishing their silver and putting out their fine China in preparation for that venue.  Spinal USA made the Wall Street Journal claiming that they were a legitimate company invoking Jim Pastena to claim, well, that they are a real company, duh!  TSB did ask the six million dollar question, where is the innovation? Pedicle Screws, Cervical Plates, Interbody Devices, Biologics, as Clara Peller use to say, "where's the beef?'  Then we wonder why hospitals are capping pedicle screws at $500 like Medstar is in Ohio.  Olympus made headlines by some nefarious activities that have now garnered the attention of multiple federal enforcement agencies in Japan and the U.S. resulting in the V Brothers getting some unwanted publicity.  By the way, what were they doing in the Olympus Booth at the Chinese Orthopedic Associations trade show?  Can someone say $14 +$22?

November brought Nuvasive more bad news as its market cap continue to fall faster than a speeding bullet. Where was Superman?  Did anyone see him?  Word on the Street was the NuVa was taking it from all sides, including losing one its biggest hitters Dr. Cappucino.  NASS was another humdrum meeting, David Paul was spotted walking the floor with his bodyguard Tatoo or was that a human troll?

So as we wrap up another year Santa is looking out for those that are naughty and those that are nice.  It will be interesting to see where stocks like Nuvasive and AlphaWreck end up.  Will they rebound and make those soothsayers, the analysts look brilliant, or will they never rebound? Never rebound?  Never rebound?  Considering that the market has been over hyped and inflated much of the industry's  destiny will rely on the Asia markets.  With Europe in a state of flux, there is no telling whether some of us will ever rebound.  Could this be the year of the small company, and who will be gobbled up as we wonder who will fall to the way side?  So as we wind down the year the question to our readers is, was this a year to lick your chops or lick your wounds?  You be the boss.

145 comments:

  1. TSB You're naughty for referring to Alphatecspine in such a soiled way.
    ATEC & NUVA's stock will rebound.

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  2. TSB! Do you know the market share rankings in Spine? I'd be interested to see a breakdown of the top 8-10 companies. Thanks for a great blog in 2011.

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  3. This is industry is corrupt thanks to POD's and dirty distributors/companies, also please let me do some bogus study and or be a consultant surgeon for some company like Seaspine, Lanx, Thekken, Spineology, Globus and yes Stryker the list goes on. Please government fine these doctors and hospitals stand up to your physicians and remember as Spike Lee coined the phrase "do the right thing" send them to jail and let their wives find out some docs=scum.

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  4. 2011 US Market share ... Let me take a stab:
    30% MDT
    12% Depuy
    10% Stryker
    8% Synthes
    7% Nuva
    3% Globus
    30% spread across Biomet, K2M and all POD's/ankle biters

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  5. Graveline was hired in early 2010 but you might be referring to the pile of bricks in their booth with his name tag attached (excellent conversationalist). No idea why people discuss that loser organization on this blog. I bet they have less than $125M in US sales. Whoever signed off on the Endius and Abbott purchases (Dvorak and Crines) should be fired. BTW, will someone please tell the Z Spine AVPs that we don't want your resumes? We aren't interested!!!

    I keep expecting to see a warehouse full of their crap on Storage Wars

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  6. I wonder if this post will be removed for content?

    Merry Christmas to all of you!

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  7. TSON should be mentioned for one thing. Their stock is shadowing over ATEC!
    TSON has 129 employees CFO salary $457k Gross: 19M Stock: $2.20
    ATEC has 460 employees CFO salary $103k Gross: 112M Stock: $1.56

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  8. Zimmer Spine...is it a joke of our industry or is it real, here to stay and will grow?

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  9. 9:05pm,

    Are your numbers based on Market Cap or Annual Revenue? Last I checked, Stryker was 5th...not 3rd.

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  10. 7:43, comparing stock prices is meaningless. Look at the market caps: TSON 58M ATEC 133M which is more consistent with company size and revs.

    Speaking of which looks like TSON's getting a bump today on their news that Medicare reimbursement is swinging in their favor. Kudos to them. They should be covered. A fusion is a fusion, no matter how it's done. Let's let the docs, not the insurers, decide which fusion method is best.

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  11. Nuvasive's stock price continues to make new yearly lows. It dipped under $12 today and may still close below that level.

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  12. @7:43 & 12:45,, How about you take a look a what Nuvasive's Sr. Managers are being paid? Talk about a fleecing,, especially for what has happened to that company.

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  13. What happened with the Styker/Zimmer battle over Graveline?

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  14. 12:59

    Agreed. The stock closed today at $11.99 a price last seen in early 2005.

    Nuvasive has retraced it's stock price nearly to its IPO level. And even at this price it is still expensive.

    The entire managing team needs to be gutted and massive cuts in pay need to be made across the board to remaining staff.

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  15. 12:59 From May 13th, 2004:

    NuVasive prices IPO at bottom of range
    NuVasive /quotes/zigman/92312/quotes/nls/nuva NUVA -1.72% opened at $11.05, above its $11 price. The stock closed at $11.40, on volume of 4.7 million shares.

    The maker of medical devices for spine disorders priced 6.5 million shares for proceeds of $71.5 million.

    The pricing came in at the low end of the expected $11-$13 range. The deal was led by Banc of America Securities.

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  16. The entire management team has been sending me their resumes and papering the street so cuts should not be necessary.

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  17. TSON will be remembered for all the revisions once these folks get older and osteoporotic.Those butt-nails are going to come sliding out and create a lot of butt puckering.

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  18. Zimmer Spine continues to put on the big boy pants, they just are short on the talent to fill them and it starts at the top. When will they hire a senior management team that has actually had success in the past or a VP that has the experience to fill the job? At some point you have to ____ or get off the pot...

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  19. TSON...getting some insurance coverage now, but still under investigation. Wonder how much of the bump up was short covering?

    The POD's should go public. Forget Globus!

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  20. Looks like Nuvasive has lost several additional managers in the Northeast? I guess that happens when you lose your largest customer.

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  21. Hey 3:14-"butt puckering" - LMAO funny!

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  22. 4:30
    That is because they bought the Biomet distributor and his biggest doc in Boston. They had to have room for him after his non-compete is up. It is no wonder why our industry has such a bad reputation, we do it to ourselves.

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  23. Although the Medicare news today about TSON is good news, the AMA denied their request to get a category 1 code instead of their category 3 Tcode. With the investigation for fraud from the OIG and the AMA denial, this bump will be short lived and then back to the same problems. TSON thinks that their lateral will save the company. Good luck with 20 or so reps that have never sold lateral and a trainer that has never worked in spine. Somebody is going to pick them up for cheap when they hit rock bottom. Luckily the leaders of the company wrote themselves killer options when they are bought out or if they take a severance.

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  24. FOR SALE OR TRADE: Buttocks Screws medical device company.
    Guess the dreams of a nice ass balloon afloat Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade route are over?

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  25. Other than the big 3 a'hem, the big 2, who will continue to grow here in the US? LDR, K2M, Integra, Globus? What's the shelf life of reps in markets that are blocked by hospitals due to exclusive contracts? Thoughts?

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  26. That is strange about TSON. They only hire those who have zero experience in spine. Their NSM is an anesthesia rep, their trainer has no experience and they are hiring reps also with no spine or ortho experience. There must be a reason. It may not matter if they find these non spine field mgrs were telling docs to code for ALIFS

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    Replies
    1. You're an idiot...

      At least TSON doesn't have a bunch of me-too crap. Obviously something is working. Jealousy is so unattractive. TSON reps actually have to SPEAK during surgery, and NOT about the current sporting event...

      Delete
  27. "Dead Man Walking... ". The phrase heard by the ATEC execs. If the reps haven't heard this then they must be deaf.
    Heard they are pulling the Isobar rod. The hits keep coming after this Summer's rebuff by FDA over Puregen.

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  28. what a pathetic and dark outlook on life you all have, including you tsb... it's been doomsday on this board for the past couple years.... wake up and adapt or get the hell out of here.

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  29. 6:07
    You apparently didn't read or study much about natural selection about how the strongest survive and the weak... well, you don't want to be the weak. It's not a dark, pessimistic outlook. Rather, it is observance of reality. To acknowledge reality and adapt and overcome is what winners do constantly.
    Now go take your Zoloft.

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  30. $100 to someone who can actually make an intelligent, accurate (oh and did I say fair) comment regarding TSON. BTW- if your comment exclusively bashes, you automatically violate all three of the above and you disqualify yourself.

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  31. Doomsday?

    Only if you see yourself only as good as the products in your bag. Sure, products come and go. Your job is be aware and to adjust ahead of the curve...

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  32. My bet is you get to keep you $100. ;)

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  33. 7:05
    Actually...you win!
    Congratulations!

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  34. CMS finally released initial Sunshine Act reporting guidelines yesterday. The traditional definition of GPOs (Group Purchasing Organizations) has been expanded to cover physician owned distributors (PODs) of covered drugs, devices, biologicals, and medical supplies. All payments from the PODs to their surgeon owners, as well as surgeon ownership, will now become transparent and available for patients and hospital administrators to see. I doubt these administrators will be too happy to see what the surgeons are making off the products they are forcing the hospitals to buy.

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  35. What is the incentive for physicians to disclose this information? They still have no way to collect and publish the info gathered... I don't see this sticking.

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  36. The physician doesn't report the information themselves. It will be the actual POD or administrative arm of the POD which must submit the information.
    It's no different than when a surgeon receives a meal. The surgeon is not tasked with reporting the value of the meal received. It is the company that provided the meal which must submit the data.

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  37. 7:21 Knowing failure to report could result in fines of up to $1,000,000 per year. January 1, 2012 collection date has been delayed in order to gather feedback from draft and develop reporting system. Goal is sometime in FY 2012 while still keeping the March 31, 2013 date for initial report.

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  38. NUVA has to be the biggest joke out of all the spine companies at this point. XLIF isn't sexy anymore, they are loosing their big Dr.'s (Capy), stock is in the toilet, and the comission (8% if you are under quota) doesn't give you much. What % of the reps are under quota? I bet a TON!

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  39. 8:16...it's just their way of reporting some "earnings" next quarter. Years past, every time they exceeded street expectations in revenues, the higher % commission payments led them to disappoint on earnings. Now, when they miss on revenues, they will "beat" on earnings.

    Easy management strategy to pump up earnings...push quotas just a little higher than is reasonable, tell the reps its their own fault for missing targets, hand out smaller checks, "beat" expectations, watch the stock go up. The big few guys at the top cash in big on those brand new $12 options.

    Fun in the short term, but will ultimately decimate that company's ranks as the reps and staff get demoralized & leave. ATEC and TSON will look like solid companies to work for from their standpoint soon....

    What will be the first POD to go IPO?

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  40. ATEC is already publicly traded!

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  41. 6:57,

    I'll take a stab at it. TSON gets credit for thinking outside of the box. They found a new way to approach the spine vs companies that reproduce me too products. Their product today probably works well for a very specific pathology. The problem arises when it is utilized for multiple indications or becomes the "go to" procedure. The same can be said for threaded cages and many other products that worked well when used as intended but failed and were eventually frowned upon when over utilized.
    They should or should have worked on a new code (ie kyphoplasty). Instead they seem to have taken the shortcut w ALIF and were slapped w a t code and are paying for it now. I can see someone rethinking the approach and making it more valuable. Funny that there is a lot of complaints about lack of innovation and bashing of any new ideas. You can't have it both ways.

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  42. Unfortunately POD's win. Small fines in comparison to public safety and they are capped? CMS just through gasoline into the fire!

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  43. 9:59
    Thoughtful comments. I agree that specific patient selection is important for any new tech. I also agree that there is a perceived lack of innovation in spine. At the risk of generalizing, a lot of spine veterans seem to exhibit a herd mentality. Clearly there is a ton of room for innovation in spine...that is the good news for all of us. We are so far from beating the disease, it's not even funny. My question is, will the next wave of innovation come from spine insiders or will it be from the outside...biotech, genomics, IT, etc.

    BTW- where should I send your $100?

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  44. 10:58,
    Keep it, merry Christmas.

    More important than imminent advances is this "ice age" we are seeing. Some will become extinct some will survive. The herd needs to be and will be thinned. Once this correction ends and consolidation happens, those that stick with It and bring value will thrive again. The cycle will start all over again. New technologies will appear. Some will make it, others will die because they don't work or because of political reasons. We will inch forward. It's called evolution, it takes awhile.

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  45. Nuva is quite the volatile stock, how low will it go??????????

    $11 or lower?

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  46. NUVA down another 4% today to 11.50 - it has dropped 30% in the last 6 weeks! Somebody knows something and it's not good. Their valuation/revenue is now about the same as struggling Alphatec. Wow.

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  47. to 10:58pm and your $100 proposal

    Intelligent and accurate......what does a non-TSON surgeon do when they need to remove one of these beeeaa..tches? Especially the POD surgeon who removes everything and puts his own stuff back in. Not to mention the surgeon forgets to call for removal instruments prior to surgery and doesn't know how to get it out.

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  48. The surgeon doesn't have to worry about it. A rep will would be aware and have the case covered... both removal and implant. No problem.

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  49. Nuvaive's stock will go lower. Maybe not immediately since it's dropped so much this year already- but 2012 will see it drop into the single digits for certain!

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  50. TSON, what happens when you get managers from Smith and Nephew to run it.

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  51. Predictions on when Alphatec cleans house of management and/or collapses under its own incompetence? What's the over/under and spread?

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  52. 2:59
    Are you the CEO of an innovative, successful, disruptive technology company that is focused on improving clinical outcomes and delivering better health care value? If you are, then please do enlighten us further!

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  53. There will be another story in the Wall Street Journal soon and Alphatec will again be the scummy company involved. They are too far gone, their only hope is to be sold.

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  54. $400k bonus for Milanazzo, you can tell how f'd up that company really is. Wasn't he the genius that pulled the trigger on the Blackstone deal?. Love those BODS maybe he can get a job as a roadie for his sons rock n roll band LMAO

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  55. Who and why would any company buy ATEC?

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  56. ATEC is a dirty ass pig that even Chester the Molester wouldn't even F**k!

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  57. 3:57pm

    Maybe a seductive move in the Sandusky shower stall would clean up this pig!! Hmmm..

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  58. 324
    You guessed it and in our Board mtg today this is what we discussed.....

    Disruptive innovations can hurt successful, well managed companies that are responsive to their customers and have excellent research and development. These companies tend to ignore the markets most susceptible to disruptive innovations, because the markets have very tight profit margins and are too small to provide a good growth rate to an established (sizable) firm. Thus disruptive technology provides an example of when the common business-world advice to "focus on the customer" ("stay close to the customer", "listen to the customer") can sometimes be strategically counterproductive.

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  59. These pretzels are makin me thirsty...

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  60. In 2012 the winds of change will blow over the house of cards; all the useless spine companies out there will find no more money on the street. The screw is declining in price; and when you really think about it; a screw is a screw is a screw. Period!

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  61. Nuva - lucky to stay above $5.00 in 2012. Entire mgt team in Northeast is gone except for the smoke stacks. Big winner - Lanx! Anyone have a light?

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  62. Word on the street is that more heads are rolling at Amedica. The director of marketing and the VP of operations were fired yesterday.

    More lining up and lay-offs and firings are going to be standard fare as this company restructures itself to be a DOD manufacturer vs. orthopedic/spine venture.

    How long before they sell off the US Spine piece to someone for pennies?

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  63. 12:33

    Interesting note: CPT for 2012 will not allow the surgeon to bill for removal when an insertion code is also used. Still gets the "back end" benefit of inserting his own hardware, but the loss of revenue for removal now makes it a wash. Too bad the good guys are the guys who are going to lose out.

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  64. When Zimmer purchased Endius, it was good move. Endius had some pretty good products such as friction head pedical screws such as the NorthStar which could replace their Title Screws and the flexposer a radiolucent retractor.

    Zimmer management and its cracked engineering team couldn't capitalize on those products. What a shame!!! Also, their legal team is a joke. It manages risk through doing NOTHING!!!

    How could a company exist with that type of competence???

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  65. Anyone know who's left w/ NUVA in the Northeast?

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  66. There are many of us getting ready to leave NUVA. It's a sinking ship & the upper mangement guys know it!

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  67. Zimmer Spine is a joke! Give them enough rope, and they will contiue to hang thmeselfs. Their in house legal is a clown!!! How does that guy keep his job?

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  68. The three previous post sounds remarkably like its about Alphawreck.
    Seems these two San Diego area companies a twins by a different mother.

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  69. Could any spell HOSTILE TAKEOVER?

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  70. H-O-S-T-I-L-E T-A-K-E-O-V-E-R

    Put on my blue suede shoes and I boarded the plane, touched down in the land of the delta blues in the middle of the pouring rain, Alex Lukianov won't you look down over me, yeah I got my first class ticket, Boy I'm as blue as can be

    Saw the ghost of Xlif on Lusk Boulevard, followed it up to the Gates of Nuvasive, then I watch it walk on right thru, now Valentine didn't see him
    they just hovered around the tomb, but there was a pretty little thing waiting for Bear down in the jungle room

    Then I'm walking in Memphis, my stock is down to $11.46 and I'm wearing an awful frown, I was walking in Memphis do I really feel the way I feel

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  71. Get a life, 2:12pm. You still won't get the business even IF NuVa is bought.

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  72. Gerstner is still stinking it northeast but won't be long for that tool.
    Otherwise the NUVA nova is all bent ova!

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  73. Cheetahs you are a very sensitive bunch, matter of fact you may be men of the eighties, do you go home and cry at night. A cheetah is supposed to have the fastest land speed of any animal, but is accompanied with a very low sperm count, it purrs, it does not roar, it is vulnerable to adapting to new environments. RIP Cheetahs

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  74. LAME

    http://youtu.be/xcgpOKrNY1w

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  75. Gerstner will be gone soon too. He's lost all his business, his top customer(s), top rep, now his 2 top managers. Decker will be next AVP in the Northeast.

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  76. 4:39

    That is awesome. Can you imagine all the purple turds walking around with hard-on's after watching that thinking they're king shit! Ha,ha! Now I guess they've figured out that they've been have been sucking some purple but it wasn't cool aid!

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  77. Wait - they have blond hot chicks though. Can't they save the day? They do wear purple Nuva lead and smile a lot.

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  78. I work in the Northeast, and Nuva is sucking bigtime in my area. My brother works for MDT out west. Says they do well there. Could their problems just be regional?

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  79. 4:39

    Thanks for posting this. What an unbelievable bunch of losers. Watching this makes me want to dedicate every minute of every day to kicking cheatah ass.

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  80. Arrogant company! Terrible reps with no functional spine knowledge or experience outside of XLIF...which is now DLIF. A sinking ship full of rats.

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  81. Any chance Nuva has any product roll outs coming along?

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  82. Please explain to me why so many of you believe that the NuVasive reps are so much more arrogant than the reps at the legacy companies (Medtronic, Depuy, or Synthes). Those guys are just as arrogant, if not more so.

    I think that the pure hatred toward NuVasive exhibited on this board stems mostly from the fact that NuVasive, a young company compared to the others listed above, has had to take market share to get to where it is today. Nobody likes the guy (or in this case, the company) that shows-up late to the party, but still manages to get laid...ESPECIALLY if that guy also happens to be wearing a cheetah-print tuxedo. Because nothing says "please hate me!!" quite like a cheetah-print tuxedo. Haha...

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  83. Good point....

    But Terrible visual...

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  84. The main problem with Nuvasive's Pinnacle cross-lateral system, isn't it's tubular retraction mechanism, it's the dynamic rod postulators! C'mon people. Wake up! No way Alex can dodge that. I dare him to try. Plus, the locking cap's half-axle is way too directive in nature. That's why Endius changed their cap-less system.

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  85. We all know that surgeons can be a bit quirky in thier thought process.
    And that in most cases 'Perception' IS reality.
    I can tell you for sure that in the huge Tri city area I work in that the TOP spine surgeons see NuVa as a pathetic and dying animal. Any who are invested see that the valuation is just about 0.0. All that time and effort just wasted on Nuva the one trick pony.

    They are jumping ship in droves.
    Just an observation.

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  86. "Nuvasive has retraced it's stock price nearly to its IPO level. And even at this price it is still expensive.

    The entire managing team needs to be gutted and massive cuts in pay need to be made across the board to remaining staff."

    Amen. Even if NUVA gets pounded into the dust though, nothing will change with the top 25 during the interim. If they stay true to form, what will happen instead is that they let their lower & middle management & reps pay the price. All the company's "problems" lay with those that "don't fit the culture" & not meeting expectations don't you know?!

    They will continue to cycle their revolving door by either regularly & consistently getting rid of their lower & middle management & reps or driving them out with their "culture" & foolish business decisions. Mean while the same 25 faces and a few cronies will continue sit at the top lining their pockets, bottling & then drinking wine with their favorite stock owning docs. That is until there is nothing left but dust...what a ride!

    Then the same 25 will move on to do it again under different names. Nothing changes in spine.

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  87. NuVa is only a one trick pony in areas where the rep is weak. I routinely cover TLIF/PLIF/ACDF/PCF/Corpectomy/Fracture AND XLIF. And my cases go great. And dammit, people like me.

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  88. 4:39 PM-- agree. very lame. but this one is just sickening:

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SjjsDns77nU&feature=related

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  89. 11:13am,

    Why is that video "sickening" to you? You don't believe in the value of developing a corporate culture? You must be smarter than the folks over at Google and Facebook and just about every other hugely successful startup business that has bursted onto the scene over the past decade or so. I agree that the video posted 4:39pm is pretty stupid, but the video you posted is just a CEO explaining the meaning/purpose behind his company's corporate culture.

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  90. OK Alex, back to the wine bar.

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  91. won't even be a NUVA this time next year...i remember being ridiculed on this blog for even suggesting this company was worthless and could go out of business. That was at $30-$40 per share...

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  92. If you search You Tube for "Nuvasive", there's certainly a number of videos which confirms 1 thing: Alex has always enjoyed reading his own press clippings. The amount of $$ wasted by the company on ridiculous videos, etc is atrocious.

    Can any MDT reps share if NUVA was the butt of any jokes at the last sales mtg? Would ove to hear,,

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  93. All hail shoredaddy!
    The sage has spoken. btw...what box did that wine come form?

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  94. 11:13a, to me the "sickening" part is claiming that XLIF improved recovery times 50%. The recovery is no faster than a standalone ALIF, and slower than a lumbar disc.

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  95. @8:34 Yes, Nuvasive may claim that XLIF "improved recovery times 50%",,

    What they fail to mention are the psoas injuries, hematomas, vascular injuries, groin pain, leak weakness/ numbness & "dead" foot that are seen post op. Somehow all of those seem to missed in the discussion. Oh yeah, how about the vertebral body & endplate fractures seen when using the lateral plate or trying to stuff too large a cage into the disc space?

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    Replies
    1. It's funny how little you know about the discussions being had with surgeons regarding XLIF. Anyone that is a decent rep knows how to gather accurate info and according to your post, you don't know crap about XLIF or Nuva. The potential complications you mention are all understood by surgeons that are doing XLIFs and if what you say is true, then why are your docs still doing XLIFs?? The most common complication when doing an XLIF is some groin or thigh numbness or pain. It goes away in about 6 weeks or less. Look at Rogers publication of 600 XLIF patients. Roughly 90 percent of the patients would elect to have the same surgery done if given the chance. How are you going to argue that study?

      Delete
  96. 8:14 thank you

    it is a '89 cab...

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  97. NuVa XLIF = Old Skool cage rage.

    Only it took 2 years longer for surgeons to realize it.

    Maybe this was due to the additional $$ they could Profit from.

    I dunno.
    I'm just a dumb rep.

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  98. 8:14am was making fun of you, shoredaddy. You're pathetic.

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  99. Don't you guys have anything else to talk about ...if XLIF is so bad why is every company coming out with a lateral system .....move on your just being stupid..you guys just bash each other....That is why the spine market going to shit because of you wasting your time on this stuff. go out and sell...Make something happen . Don't worried about what you can't control. If Globus will go public, if Nuvasive will come back and who will buy who. You are sales people go sell.

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  100. What's amazing in those hidious marketing pieces is that Alex realizes that people enjoyed being lied to and 'creating a culture' (cult). He almost got away with it.
    What a pompus asshole.

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  101. PODS are now open in N. Korea today!

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  102. Lol, Kim il Jong invented PODS right before he died.

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  103. Nuva buys business too. Most docs the the Boston area are being paid somehow to use them. I'm sure this is pretty common though.

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  104. Interesting Fact regarding the Cheetah.

    "Although fast, the cheetah cannot run at full speed for long distances (100 yards is about the limit) because it may overheat. "

    I'm guesstimating they Are very close to that 100 yard mark.

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  105. Especially if you are a 450 LB Cheetah!

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  106. How long before Yapp and Terry Rich show up at Baxano?

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    Replies
    1. Hopefully soon!!! They need to go!

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  107. Interesting that NUVA continues to take so much heat on the blog here. Having worked for NUVA, and Synthes, I was impressed with NUVA when it came to the training that we went through for XLIF. It really was top notch, cadaveric training with tremendous accountability. I personally know several reps that I believe are world class at both Synthes and NUVA (heck, at Medtronic, Depuy, others for that matter); many of the NUVA reps have taken significant advantage of the MVP training program to work closely with their surgeons and it shows. That is a key advantage that NUVA has enjoyed over the years.

    What I'd like to hear from you all is to comment on the amount of radiation exposure surgeons are getting during cases. Not just XLIF, but all lateral / MIS cases. I am hearing (and seeing) more and more surgeons consider the exposure issue as they're seeing physical impact on their hands (specifically). If you're seeing / hearing an increase and its impacting surgeon behavior (more ALIF, for example, if and when they can vs. a lateral or other posterior procedure as long as they can treat the pathology), can you please opine here?

    Disclosure - I am an industry professional doing a small start-up company in spine and brain surgery with no implant affiliation. Thanks - Mitch

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  108. Mitch,

    No scientific proof here...these could be totally unrelated events...but just the potential fallout (pardon the pun) from all the radiation exposure in those training courses that I can think of: 1 surgeon who did a lot of training with the company, dead of leukemia in his 40's (their training lab is named after him), 1 major customer with cataracts, at least 3 company employees in their 30's and 40's with different cancers. Probably all coincidental, but it wouldn't hurt for them to check into that lab and the science associated with chronic low dose exposure very closely before OHSA does it for them....

    I don't think they're trying to hide anything, but I suspect there may be more exposure going on than the company realizes.

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  109. Thanks GP - appreciated.

    To add some clarification to my original post, I am interested in exposure for all lateral / MIS cases vs NUVA specific (although that is appreciated as well).

    What will be interesting is what we (industry) help drive / provide the surgeons to help alleviate the exposure. Is the o-arm / intra-operative CT the solution, with Stealth and Brainlab? Does Siemens / GE enter the implant marketplace with intra-operative CT / MRI Implant and instrument integration to 3-D imaging solutions?

    Again, full disclosure - and I'm interested in your opinions. If you're so inclined please feel free to drop me an email at mitch@excelsiussurgical.com if you don't want to post here. Hmm....might get myself booted now!

    Mitch

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  110. How does the Trans1 new lateral system compare with XLIF?

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  111. 5:22

    but rich from it all..ya schmuck...

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  112. whoops...almost forgot...is 5:22 one of those omnipotent visionaries predicting NUVA to $60 couple years ago?

    Could still get there...but gonna take a while.

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  113. Yeah NuVa in the 60's

    When pigs fly

    All time low right now 11.13.

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  114. That Kim il Jong.....he a knucklehead!

    Sir Charles

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  115. NUVA has closed at $11.07- 2 cents apbove it's IPO price 7 years ago. Anyone who did not cash out is now in serious danger of losing money.

    Sell while you can! 2012 may very well see a bankruptcy!

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  116. Mitch the oarm is not a ct scanner at all. It is flat panel technology just like a carm. In fact, it is a carm on steriods.

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  117. I guess Alex and Dirk (Of Alphatec fame) are testing to see how much they and their crony managers can suck from their respective companies before the Board of Directors decide to finally make a change. NUVA closed at $11.07 and ATEC closed at $1.52 today. There's no saving the train wreck of Alphatec. At least NUVA has a viable product that is worth acquiring (although it will be far less than the billion Alex believes).

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  118. Mitch I have a good paper for you to read on the radiation scatter regarding the oarm. Bottomline.....get out of the room when imaging. Medtronic will never give it to an account. I'll try and send to your email.

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  119. Thanks to you both, appreciate the input / feedback.

    Mitch

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  120. Ok so the stock is in the shitter for nuva. Maybe a bonehead question but what does that mean short term to sales in the field? In my area they are strong (biz has been bought). Long term they are obviously screwed barring a miracle.

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  121. Here's what it means to the reps in the field.
    1) significantly reduced stock price means less capital on NUVA's books, which means reduced ability to borrow money and/or increased interest rates to borrow money. This reaction will reduce NUVA's ability to continue paying consulting fees to surgeons
    2) reduced capital will lesson their ability to develop and bring products to the market
    3) reduced capital will negatively impact their ability to provide inventory to the field.

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  122. @3:51 & 4:10

    What it means too is that all the "shareowners" at NUVA who have been given options as part of their employment/ comp packages are holding worthless paper. Additionally, for all of the employess who have contributed into the Employee Stock Plan over the years,, well, they are shit out of luck. The money that they have invested from their payroll deductions have purchased options for them that are all significantly under water. My guess is that the total loss experienced by this group would have to extend into the millions of dollars at this point? A complete travesty for all involved; sort of becoming the Enron of the device industry.

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  123. NuVanron...how funny!

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  124. It's time buy nuvasive stock while it's low....make some money..."

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  125. Good luck w/ that 7:07. How many others do you think have been saying the same thing over the last 6 months?

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  126. They will get bought so stock will make some money

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  127. Maybe Alphatec would be a better investment. Oh, my bad. ATEC has never closed above its IPO from 2006. Now that's a kick in the nuts! :)

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  128. well said 7:09

    Just because a stock has lost value does not mean that it is cheap and/or a bargain.

    In Nuvasive's case the bubble is over and the movement of the stock price indicates that the company is on its way towards bankruptcy.

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  129. Zimmer settles Medtronic/Nuvasive law suits privately in efforts to purchase Nuvasive..........

    p.67-68 Wall Street Journal

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  130. Goldman Sachs analyst says Globus will be public in 2012.

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  131. Anyone know if K2M making any traction? whats up with them going Public? Any chance?

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  132. Is rich and yapp still there?

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  133. Is RSB Spine about to be purchased by a big company? Heard Mike O at Paradigm finally hit the big number.

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  134. December 19, 2011 8:56 PM,

    Do you have a link to the WSJ article about Zimmer settling lawsuit with Medtronic?

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  135. ....David Paul was spotted walking the floor with his bodyguard Tatoo or was that a human troll?

    I am still laughing my ass off.

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  136. LMAO!
    The market goes up more than 330 points today and all Alphatec can squeeze out between their constipated cheeks is a 1 cent gain.
    Question is, who's the dumb ass that paid a penny more than yesterday's close?

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  137. Dirk probably picked up a few thousand shares to feign confidence in his POD, uh POC, POS or whatever you want to call a company that relies on surgeon investors to generate sales.

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  138. Unfortunately for all of us who have to work with him, T Rich is still employed with NuVa. But remember folks, its all about the rep.

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  139. What do you guys think of Dfine Vertebral augumentation company?

    Will anyone acquire them? Or is it company which will fail in 2012. Biomet evaluated them and then turned them down.

    I do not understand why Zimmer has gone with Benvenue together?

    Can you guys give some feed back.

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  140. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8mmp6xhjW-E
    If this gives you any insight into who is selling NuVasive....yikes.

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