The performances of the leading medtechs in the first year of the COVID pandemic were impossible to compare and certainly unrepresentative of normal business cycles and competitive activity. Elective care was largely put on hold and emergency needs boosted exceptional demand for certain product types. More than anything else, 2020 tested management's planning skills.

Alere Medical and its now-defunct subsidiary Arriva Medical will pay the US government $160m to settle allegations that they violated the False Claims Act. It’s the second settlement that Alere has entered into with the Department of Justice in recent weeks.

The settlements resolve False Claims Act allegations against St. Jude and Alere, as well as misbranding allegations against Avanos Medical.

2016 was a year of surprise and change in political circles, but that's nothing new for the medtech industry, which over a number of years has become accustomed to health care systems demanding different and ever-higher levels of service. Smart medtechs have been ahead of the curve, but the whole industry now factors in clients' wider needs in a holistic approach to patient care. Many companies' current M&A policies are already reflecting the changes to come.