Edward Lifesciences pays Boston Scientific $180 million to end patent row

Boston Scientific and Edwards Lifesciences have been embroiled in a number of legal cases for several years involving heart valve replacement systems, including transcatheter aortic valves, in the United States and Europe. All pending cases or appeals in courts and patent offices will be dismissed, the companies said in a joint statement on Tuesday. The valves are used in a relatively new procedure called transcatheter aortic valve replacement, or TAVR, in which the original heart valve is not surgically removed.