Wisconsin ENT's nose for business nothing to sneeze at

Local demand for a nasal wash launched it into one major drugstore chain.

By Mike Norbut, AMNews staff. Feb. 16, 2004.

Making sidelines pay
Doctors who branched out beyond running their practice tell why they did it, how they did it, and what you should know before you do it. Contribute

Name: Diane Heatley, MD

Specialty: Pediatric otolaryngology

Location: Madison, Wis.

Business: Med-Systems Inc., which created and sells SinuCleanse, an all-natural nasal wash designed to treat patients with sinusitis or allergies.

The product kit, which is now sold in Walgreen Co. stores around the country, consists of a modified neti pot -- a small pot with a handle and spout in the shape of a genie's lamp -- and dry saline packets. Patients mix the saline with lukewarm water, and use the pot to pour the solution through their nasal passages. Suggested retail price of the product is $14.95.

Annual revenue: Dr. Heatley and her brother and business partner, Dave Gallo, declined to give exact figures, but Gallo estimated sales to be "in the millions."

Why she started the business: A nurse Dr. Heatley worked with suggested she try prescribing neti-pot therapy as a way for patients to clean clogged nasal passages. Her finicky adolescent patients started to warm to the therapy, adult patients liked it, and most importantly, surgeries among her patients declined. Dr. Heatley talked to Gallo about creating a plastic version of the pot and marketing it.