Washington, D.C. — Numerous medical technology and diagnostics company CEOs and founders were named to Forbes’ list of “America’s Most Innovative Leaders,” comprised of what Forbes calls the 100 most “creative and successful business minds of today.”

“The medical technology industry is constantly driving advancement and pushing the bounds of human knowledge to make the treatments and cures of tomorrow a reality,” said President and CEO of AdvaMed, Scott Whitaker. “I congratulate these fearless pioneers for their leadership and for their dedication to saving and improving lives.”

Several of the companies named on the list are AdvaMed members and are responsible for some of the most monumental technology breakthroughs in modern history.

Over the last 30 years, medical technology advancements have helped:

• Lengthen life expectancy by over 5 years;
• Lower heart disease fatalities and stroke deaths each about 60 percent;
• Reduce breast cancer mortality by a third; and 
• Cut the number of days people spent in hospitals by 59 percent. 

While the industry has succeeded at-large in driving progress towards improved patient care and treatment outcomes, many barriers still exist in the policy realm which impede and stifle innovation.

The industry has been laboring under the threat and uncertainty surrounding the potential reinstatement of the medical device tax in January.

The medical device tax, which is a 2.3 percent excise tax on revenue, not profit, singles out the medical technology industry and makes it extremely difficult for new companies to thrive. Given that 80 percent of the industry is comprised of small businesses, the effects of the tax, if reinstated, could be devastating.

When the tax was last in effect, 29,000 U.S. jobs in the industry were lost and one-third of medical technology companies were forced to reduce spending on new R&D projects.

The industry has repeatedly called on Congress to permanently repeal the tax to provide companies with the financial certainty they need to continue to invest in innovation. The tax was suspended at the beginning of 2018 for a two-year period.

Below is a list of founders and CEOs whose companies are AdvaMed members that were included in the Forbes list of America’s Most Innovative Leaders:

• Miles White, Abbott
• Tim Cook, Apple
• Jose Almeida, Baxter
• Vincent Forlenza, Becton Dickinson
• Michael Mahoney, Boston Scientific
• Thomas Joyce, Danaher
• Kevin Sayer, Dexcom
• Michael Mussallem, Edwards Lifesciences
• Alex Gorsky, Johnson & Johnson
• Gary Guthart, Intuitive Surgical
• Omar Ishrak, Medtronic
• Satya Nadella, Microsoft
• Kevin Lobo, Stryker
• Christopher O’Connell, Waters