Important life science current events from this week include Mayo Clinic helicopter crash, ten movies that portray pharmaceutical companies negatively, and an influential UW chairman takes heat for royalties and conflicts-of-interest with Medtronic.

Mayo Clinic procurement technician David Hines and cardiovascular surgeon Dr. Louis Bonilla were doing what they do every day — procuring an organ to save a patient’s life — when they lost their own lives in an early morning helicopter crash on Monday, says one colleague in tribute videos posted on the hospital’s blog.Because the [...]

Condolences have flooded Mayo Clinic’s Facebook page since it was reported that three people, including two Mayo employees, were killed in a plane crash to retrieve a donated organ for a patient on Monday.Mayo Clinic identified the two employees killed as Dr. Luis Bonilla, 49, a thoracic and cardiovascular surgeon (at left), and David Hines, [...]

Three people including two Mayo Clinic workers were killed in a Mayo Clinic helicopter crash in Florida on Monday. The cause of the crash and names of the victims are still unknown. But the accident will likely increase the already growing scrutiny on using helicopters for the transport of medical personnel.The aircraft used in this [...]

Life science current events this week include the best Mayo Clinic and Cleveland clinic doctors, tips for healthcare social media and Cleveland Clinic millionaire’s club.

The Mayo Clinic.While it bears the name of its founders, Mayo’s worldwide reputation is not tied inextricably to them. Instead, it rests upon countless physicians who have worked there over time.Yesterday, my colleague Brandon Glenn ran a list of the best Cleveland Clinic doctors in history. Below is a top 50 list from a slightly more storied healthcare institution. You’ll notice a bit of a contrast: Having been born in a country whose history dates back several centuries to 3300 B.C., I have particular respect and appreciation for history. That is why my top 10 contains only those long-departed who have become legends for their contributions to healthcare.Beyond the top 10, luminaries still abound, but there are also some who you might not think of immediately. They are those whose contributions have been lasting because they have become entirely routine.

Three diabetes-related research projects at Mayo Clinic and the University of Minnesota received more than $1.8 million through a state-funded research initiative for preventing, treating and curing diabetes.Decade of Discovery is an initiative of the Minnesota Partnership for Biotechnology and Medical Genomics, a collaboration between the university, the clinic and the state of Minnesota. It [...]

The Mayo Clinic Center for Innovation’s new lab devoted to researching healthcare technology and services that will help seniors remain at home, healthy and independent now has its second founding consortium member.The Evangelical Lutheran Good Samaritan Society — the nation’s largest not-for-profit provider of senior care and services — has signed on to support Mayo’s [...]

Mayo Clinic dipped its toes into healthcare retail in August when it opened a health and wellness store at the Mall of America. So what are Mayo’s plans for retail’s biggest day?“We will not open at midnight on Friday with the rest of the mall,” said spokesman Bryan Anderson. “Instead, we will open at 6 [...]

If the Mayo brothers were around today, they’d be great tweeters.At least that’s what the healthcare social media gurus at Mayo Clinic think of their organization’s founders.Since January, the hospital has been tweeting a quote a day from one of the Mayo men in memory of the elder Dr. William Mayo, who died 100 years [...]