Medicare Declines Reconsideration Of Cyberonics’ VNS Therapy Device Coverage Denial

On May 28, 2013, Cyberonics, Inc. informed investors that despite new evidence of efficacy for the company’s implanted vagus nerve stimulation (VNS) Therapy device as a treatment for resistant depression, Medicare had declined the company’s request to reconsider national coverage. The VNS Therapy system uses an implanted medical device that delivers pulsed electrical signals to the vagus nerve. The VNS Therapy system is approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration as a treatment for refractory epilepsy (approved in 1997), as well as a treatment for resistant depression (approved in 2005). Medicare does provide reimbursement for VNS . . .