Looking Through The Glass Onion

Lennon and McCarthy? Elton and Bernie? Bacharach and Sager? Jagger and Richards? Strummer and Jones (The Clash), Page and Plant? Lennox and Stewart? Hall and Oats? Ashford and Simpson? Spineophiles, one of our newest contributors penned this post, and let's give credit where credit is due.  As Bogart once said to Berman, Who knows maybe this is the start of something beautiful, here's looking at you kid!

I am he as you are he as you are me and we are all together
See how they run like pigs from a gun, see how they fly, I'm crying
Sitting on a cornflake, Waiting for the cement to come
Corporate T-shirt, stupid bloody extravasation
Man you've been a naughty boy, you let your face grow long

Goo goo g' joob spine bloggers!  Who knew that the immortal John Lennon, aka Public Enemy #1, was thinking about the Kyphoplasty market circa 2012 when he penned those lyrics?  Yes, friends, just when you thought the demand for new VCF products rivaled that of Singer Sewing Machines and IBM Typewriters, we have more new entrants than ever into the marketplace. Recupero’s child, aka Chuckie, has now spawned more imitators than a Las Vegas Elvis convention. Just when you thought it couldn’t get any more crowded, what with Stryker Interventional Spine, DFINE, Osseon, and CareFusion all having me-too products available, and with the medical world on the edge of their seats for AOI, CrossTrees, Benvenue, Soteira (Solyndra?) and Joimax to flood the market, TSB, aka Public Enemy #2, now knows that Globus (W.W.T.P.?) and Synthes are also entering the fold. What a surprise that the Lennon-McCartney songwriting duo of Hansjorg and David Paul would have simultaneous VCF products coming out? 

It seems that Globus’ entity, under the name Algea (What is an Algea) Therapies, is using the time-tested strategy of coercing Kyphon retreads into promises of large base salaries and high commission percentages to come on over to the dark side. We all know how well that strategy worked for DFINE, which went on to dental retreads and now imaging retreads to sell its cumbersome product. But then again, David Paul has been known to have Svengali like powers. TSB told me that they will buy a magic carpet for their office. Stryker IVS tried to go down the long and winding road, but was bitten on the ass, after an aroused Medtronic/Kyphon thought it a bit odd that its entire Southwest Region resigned the same day and showed up at work 2 weeks later all wearing Stryker nametags.  Does it surprise anyone, that Algea is headed by David Veino?,  The former Stryker IVS VP of Sales was terminated after Medtronic’s sued over the above fiasco. CareFusion, which was poised to challenge Medtronic with an identical balloon and Cardinal cash, imploded early under weak, indecisive leadership, unwilling to exploit holes left by Medtronic. Their newly hired National Sales Director smelled the dog shit early and headed back to the implant world.

Meanwhile, despite previous failed entrants into the market, and the pending merger with Depuy, our friends at Syn TES are at it again as well, and are said to be deploying an all new sales force. Of course, Depuy is still trying to figure out how to sell its acquired product the No-Confidence system (Is it a Kypho? Is it a Vertebro?). No word on whether SynPuy will co-market both systems or not.

So, fellow bloggers, TSB wants to know your thoughts on all the excitement in the VCF market, especially in light of questionable clinical papers, reimbursement scrutiny, litigation, and declining physician interest. Is the future crystal clear, or are we looking through a Glass Onion.

I told you about strawberry fields
You know the place where nothing is real
Well here's another place you can go
Where everything flows
Looking through the bent backed tulips
To see how the other half live
Looking through a glass onion

I told you about the Globus and me, man
You know that we're as close as can be, man
Well here's another clue for you all
The walrus is Paul