Beacon Tip catheters (Cook Medical) are once again available to physicians in Europe. As of September 2019, the catheters are available in the UK, Ireland, Norway, Sweden, Finland, Denmark, Germany, Poland, the Netherlands, Luxembourg, Belgium, France, Switzerland, Austria, Hungary, Spain, and Italy. Cook is continuing to work on releasing the products to customers in the rest of Europe, the Middle East, and Africa in the near future.
“Patient safety is always a priority for us, and we are proud of the changes we have made. Improved packaging allows for physicians to once again have access to catheters, designed for torqueability, visibility and pushability, to improve procedural outcomes”, said Mike Williams, global director of Cook Medical’s Vascular programmes. Beacon Tip catheters are used for diagnostic angiographic procedures and feature a visible distal tip designed to improve visualisation when using fluoroscopic guidance.
In 2016, Cook Medical issued a voluntary global recall of all Beacon Tip catheters following concerns that the tips were fracturing due to environmental factors. As patient safety is always a priority, engineers at Cook began intensive testing to find a solution. The products now come with specialised foil packaging to help protect the catheters from the environmental effects that contributed to the recall.
Cook invested resources into innovating the product packaging and meeting regulatory standards from multiple governing bodies. The catheters were reintroduced in the USA and Canada in 2018 and are now approved for physician use in many countries in Europe.
