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Globe 100

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No. 1 medical device company

Covidien turns medical devices into cash

50,000 products mean sales in the billions

By Todd Wallack

 |  Globe Staff  

  May 20, 2012

Many corporate giants count on billion-dollar blockbuster products, from Coca-Cola to the iPad, to make money. Covidien, on the other hand, has stitched together a bulging catalog of more than 50,000 obscure health products, ranging from surgical instruments to bandages, that together generate billions of dollars in sales a year. Solid sales and profit growth drove Covidien to the 16th position on the 2012 Globe 100 rankling - the highest for a medical devices company this year.

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