Johnson & Johnson announced that the company will stop selling the Sedasys System due to unexpectedly slow sales and company-wide cost-cutting.
The Sedasys System, a computer-assisted personalized sedation device that allows non-anesthesia professionals to administer propofol, was touted by some as a potential replacement for anesthesiologists.
The device delivers a measured dose of propofol into the patient’s bloodstream via IV infusion for minimal to moderate sedation. The device is programmed to detect signs associated with oversedation, and will slow or stop the infusion if symptoms are detected. The system also offered major cost savings to patients: Sedation for colonoscopy would cost $150 to $200 using Sedasys compared with $2,000 for an anesthesiologist, the Washington Post reported.
The Sedasys System was initially rejected for approval by the FDA in 2010. But the agency cleared the device in 2013, when Johnson & Johnson agreed that it would only be used for healthy patients aged 18 years or older, undergoing sedation during routine colonoscopy and esophagogastroduodenoscopy procedures.