They’re here! Products released to fill gap left by Beacon Tip

When I recently got word that the first phase of new products to replace those affected by the recall of Beacon® Tip technology had made it to the warehouse, I was so excited that I had to go see for myself! As a lot of you know, this recall in April of 2016 led to the removal of 14 product families. But now, just 13 months later, seeing these new products on our shelves and ready to ship filled me with pride. That’s because I know all of the hard work it took to get here.

As soon as we knew about the Beacon Tip recall, our engineering and regulatory teams began developing replacements and working through the FDA clearance process as quickly as possible. With this release in the U.S. and Canada, we’re able to offer new replacements for the largest product family affected by the recall (commonly called the “HNBR” catheters).

These new products are exciting news for our customers and their patients as well. Since the specially curved tips on some of our recalled catheters were unique to Cook, clinicians have had to find other ways to treat patients using products they were less familiar with. But now, they’ll have new Cook options that meet their needs, even if these products do not have the Beacon Tip technology. And because these products are so unique, we expect that once all phases are released, demand will be over 10,000 units per month.

Getting these products from the drawing board to the hands of our customers in 13 short months is a pretty amazing accomplishment. Not only did it take the combined efforts of many people here at Cook, it also took the cooperation of FDA to get clearance for these new products in a timely way. Customers were contacting the FDA to let them know they needed these catheters!

While our team is now working on the second phase of replacement products expected to be released in June, we wanted to take the time to celebrate how important this first step is to our company and our customers. Thank you to everyone who played a role in getting these new products ready to launch. Your hard work will be helping patients in the very near future!

For more information, visit the Torcon NB Advantage Catheter product page.