such stock option terminated by its terms before becoming exercisable following a december story_separator_special_tag forward-looking statement warning certain statements included by reference in this filing containing the words could ,  may ,  believes ,  anticipates ,  intends ,  expects ,  and similar such words constitute forward-looking statements within the meaning of the private securities litigation reform act . any forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks , uncertainties , and other factors that may cause our actual results , performance , or achievements to be materially different from any future results , performance , or achievements expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements . such factors include , among others , our ability to maintain liquidity , our maintenance of patent protection , the impact of current and future court decisions regarding current litigation , our ability to maintain favorable third party manufacturing and supplier arrangements and relationships , foreign trade risk , our ability to quickly increase capacity in response to an increase in demand , our ability to access the market , our ability to maintain or lower production costs , our ability to continue to finance research and development as well as operations and expansion of production , the impact of larger market players , specifically bd , in providing devices to the safety market , and other factors referenced in item 1a . risk factors . given these uncertainties , undue reliance should not be placed on forward-looking statements . overview we have been manufacturing and marketing our products since 1997. safety syringes comprised 89.9 % of our sales in 2017. we also manufacture and market the easypoint ® , blood collection tube holder , iv safety catheter , and vanishpoint ® blood collection set . we currently provide other safety medical products in addition to safety products utilizing retractable technology . one such product is the patient safe ® syringe , which is uniquely designed to reduce the risk of bloodstream infections associated with catheter hub contamination . in the second quarter of 2016 , we began selling the easypoint ® needle . easypoint ® needles made up 6.0 % of revenues in 2017. the easypoint ® is a retractable needle that can be used with luer lock syringes , luer slip syringes , and prefilled syringes to give injections . the easypoint ® needle can also be used to aspirate fluids and collect blood . based on industry-wide trends , we anticipate that demand may increase for the easypoint ® needle . historically , unit sales have increased in the latter part of the year due , in part , to the demand for syringes during the flu season . our products have been and continue to be distributed nationally and internationally through numerous distributors . although we have made limited progress in some areas , such as the alternate care market , our volumes are not as high as they should be given the nature and quality of our products and the federal and state legislation requiring the use of safe needle devices . the alternate care market is composed of facilities that provide long-term nursing and out-patient surgery , emergency care , physician services , health clinics , and retail pharmacies . 11 we continue to pursue various strategies to have better access to the hospital market , as well as other markets , including attempting to gain access to the market through our sales efforts , our innovative technology , introduction of new products , and , when necessary , litigation . we have reported in the past that our progress is limited principally due to the practices engaged in by bd , the dominant maker and seller of disposable syringes . we initiated an antitrust and false advertising lawsuit in 2007 against bd . although a district court judgment in 2015 awarded us $ 340 million in antitrust damages from bd and the fifth circuit affirmed a finding of false advertising liability against bd , we were ultimately awarded a take nothing judgment in august 2017 and the case was dismissed . we have filed for appeal . our litigation expenses were significantly less in 2017 than previous years and we have expanded our sales and marketing staff in an effort to gain market share . costs related to additional compensation , bonuses to ms. larios and mr. cowan , and stock option expense related to options granted in 2016 affected 2017 results . in january 2018 , congress imposed another two-year moratorium on the 2.3 % medical device excise tax imposed by internal revenue code section 4191. thus , the medical device excise tax will not go into effect until january 1 , 2020. in 2016 , we granted a right to three of our executive officers to purchase shares directly from the company . thomas j. shaw exercised such right on january 12 , 2017 , buying two million shares at market price for an aggregate purchase price of $ 1.78 million and purchased one million shares at market price on august 23 , 2017 for an aggregate purchase price of $ 570,100. we received approximately $ 1 million from our insurance carrier in the second quarter of 2017 and used these funds to repair our buildings from earlier storm damage . product purchases from our chinese manufacturers have enabled us to increase manufacturing capacity with little capital outlay and have provided a competitive manufacturing cost . in 2017 , our primary chinese manufacturer produced approximately 90.4 % of our vanishpoint ® syringes . story_separator_special_tag in the event that we become unable to purchase products from our chinese manufacturers , we would need to find an alternate manufacturer for the blood collection set , iv catheter , patient safe ® syringe , 0.5ml insulin syringe , 0.5ml autodisable syringe , and 2ml , 5ml , and 10ml syringes and we would increase domestic production for the 1ml and 3ml syringes . in 1995 , we entered into a license agreement with thomas j. shaw for the exclusive right to manufacture , market , and distribute products utilizing automated retraction technology . this technology is the subject of various patents and patent applications owned by mr. shaw . the license agreement generally provides for quarterly payments of a 5 % royalty fee on gross sales . with increased volumes , our manufacturing unit costs have generally tended to decline . factors that could affect our unit costs include increases in costs by third party manufacturers , changing production volumes , costs of petroleum products , and transportation costs . increases in such costs may not be recoverable through price increases of our products . results of operations the following discussion contains trend information and other forward-looking statements that involve a number of risks and uncertainties . our actual future results could differ materially from our historical results of operations and those discussed in the forward-looking statements . all period references are to our fiscal years ended december 2017 , 2016 , or 2015. dollar amounts have been rounded for ease of reading . comparison of year ended december 31 , 2017 and year ended december 31 , 2016 domestic sales accounted for 78.3 % and 88.2 % of the revenues in 2017 and 2016 , respectively . domestic revenues increased 2.7 % principally due to increased sales of easypoint ® and the blood collection set . domestic unit 12 sales increased 7.1 % . domestic unit sales were 69.5 % of total unit sales for 2017. international revenues increased from $ 3.5 million in 2016 to $ 7.5 million in 2017 , primarily due to increased volumes mitigated by lower average prices . overall unit sales increased 28.3 % . our international orders may be subject to significant fluctuation over time . such orders may fluctuate due to health initiatives at various times as well as economic conditions . cost of manufactured product increased $ 4.7 million principally due to higher volumes . royalty expense increased $ 337 thousand due to increased gross sales . gross profit margins decreased from 34.7 % in 2016 to 28.9 % in 2017 principally due to a larger portion of international sales which bear a lower average sales price . operating expenses decreased 0.7 % from the prior year due to decreased legal expenses and no impairment costs incurred in 2017 , offset by increased staffing in sales and marketing , stock option expense , and bonuses paid in 2017. the loss from operations was $ 3.8 million in 2017 compared to $ 3.5 million in 2016. we recorded $ 188 thousand in tax benefits in connection with the enactment of the tax cut and jobs act ( the act ) on december 22 , 2017. the act establishes new tax provisions that affect us including the elimination of the corporate alternative minimum tax and changing rules related to uses and limitations of net operating loss carry forwards created after december 31 , 2017. carry forward credits from alternative minimum taxes paid in prior years are now refundable in tax years beginning january 1 , 2018. cash flow from operations was a negative $ 2.9 million for 2017 due to our net loss , increased accounts receivable and other current assets , mitigated by noncash expenses of depreciation and stock option expense , lower inventory levels , increased liabilities , and insurance proceeds . comparison of year ended december 31 , 2016 and year ended december 31 , 2015 domestic sales accounted for 88.2 % and 77.9 % of the revenues in 2016 and 2015 , respectively . domestic revenues increased 14.2 % principally due to sales of our 1 ml syringe and easypoint ® needles . domestic unit sales increased 15.6 % . domestic unit sales were 83.3 % of total unit sales for 2016. international revenues decreased from $ 6.5 million in 2015 to $ 3.5 million in 2016 , primarily due to fluctuation in the timing of orders . overall unit sales decreased 7.0 % . our international orders may be subject to significant fluctuation over time . such orders may fluctuate due to health initiatives at various times as well as economic conditions . cost of manufactured product increased $ 448 thousand principally due to higher manufacturing costs . royalty expense increased $ 50 thousand due to increased gross sales . gross profit margins decreased from 35.8 % in 2015 to 34.7 % in 2016. operating expenses increased 0.6 % from the prior year due to an impairment charge of $ 456 thousand , stock option expense , consulting costs , and 401 ( k ) plan matching expense . the impairment charge of $ 456 thousand was related to patient safe ® assembly equipment . these expenses were largely offset by decreases in the medical device excise tax of $ 360 thousand , severance pay , professional fees , and bonus pay . a non-recurring recognition of $ 7.7 million received from bd in the second quarter of 2015 pursuant to a patent infringement case had a significant impact on 2015 income . recognizing this payment also significantly decreased 2015 current liabilities on the balance sheets . in 2015 , earnings per share was positively affected by our acquisition of 200,000 shares of iv class b convertible preferred stock . under the guidelines of asc 260-10-s99-2 , effect on the calculation of earnings per share for the redemption or induced conversion of preferred stock , we reflected the gain on extinguishment of this preferred stock

liquidity and capital resources at the present time , management does not intend to publicly raise equity capital . due to the funds received from prior litigation , we have sufficient cash reserves and intend to rely on operations , cash reserves , and debt financing , when available , as the primary ongoing sources of cash . our ability to obtain additional funds through loans is uncertain . historical sources of liquidity we have historically funded operations primarily from the proceeds from revenues , private placements , litigation settlements , and loans . internal sources of liquidity margins and market access to routinely achieve positive or break even quarters , we need increased access to hospital markets which has been difficult to obtain . we will continue to attempt to gain access to the market through our sales efforts , innovative technology , the introduction of new products , and , when necessary , litigation . we continue to focus on methods of upgrading our manufacturing capability and efficiency in order to reduce costs . fluctuations in the cost and availability of raw materials and inventory and our ability to maintain favorable manufacturing arrangements and relationships could result in the need to manufacture all ( as opposed to 17.1 % ) of our products in the u.s. this could temporarily increase unit costs as we ramp up domestic production .


 Write a concise suspicious activity report of the following text delimited by triple backquotes. Return your response as a formal report which covers the key points highlighting the location,dates,entity names and account holder information in chronological order of the text.
     ```liquidity and capital resources at the present time , management does not intend to publicly raise equity capital . due to the funds received from prior litigation , we have sufficient cash reserves and intend to rely on operations , cash reserves , and debt financing , when available , as the primary ongoing sources of cash . our ability to obtain additional funds through loans is uncertain . historical sources of liquidity we have historically funded operations primarily from the proceeds from revenues , private placements , litigation settlements , and loans . internal sources of liquidity margins and market access to routinely achieve positive or break even quarters , we need increased access to hospital markets which has been difficult to obtain . we will continue to attempt to gain access to the market through our sales efforts , innovative technology , the introduction of new products , and , when necessary , litigation . we continue to focus on methods of upgrading our manufacturing capability and efficiency in order to reduce costs . fluctuations in the cost and availability of raw materials and inventory and our ability to maintain favorable manufacturing arrangements and relationships could result in the need to manufacture all ( as opposed to 17.1 % ) of our products in the u.s. this could temporarily increase unit costs as we ramp up domestic production .
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 Suspicious Activity Report : such stock option terminated by its terms before becoming exercisable following a december story_separator_special_tag forward-looking statement warning certain statements included by reference in this filing containing the words could ,  may ,  believes ,  anticipates ,  intends ,  expects ,  and similar such words constitute forward-looking statements within the meaning of the private securities litigation reform act . any forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks , uncertainties , and other factors that may cause our actual results , performance , or achievements to be materially different from any future results , performance , or achievements expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements . such factors include , among others , our ability to maintain liquidity , our maintenance of patent protection , the impact of current and future court decisions regarding current litigation , our ability to maintain favorable third party manufacturing and supplier arrangements and relationships , foreign trade risk , our ability to quickly increase capacity in response to an increase in demand , our ability to access the market , our ability to maintain or lower production costs , our ability to continue to finance research and development as well as operations and expansion of production , the impact of larger market players , specifically bd , in providing devices to the safety market , and other factors referenced in item 1a . risk factors . given these uncertainties , undue reliance should not be placed on forward-looking statements . overview we have been manufacturing and marketing our products since 1997. safety syringes comprised 89.9 % of our sales in 2017. we also manufacture and market the easypoint ® , blood collection tube holder , iv safety catheter , and vanishpoint ® blood collection set . we currently provide other safety medical products in addition to safety products utilizing retractable technology . one such product is the patient safe ® syringe , which is uniquely designed to reduce the risk of bloodstream infections associated with catheter hub contamination . in the second quarter of 2016 , we began selling the easypoint ® needle . easypoint ® needles made up 6.0 % of revenues in 2017. the easypoint ® is a retractable needle that can be used with luer lock syringes , luer slip syringes , and prefilled syringes to give injections . the easypoint ® needle can also be used to aspirate fluids and collect blood . based on industry-wide trends , we anticipate that demand may increase for the easypoint ® needle . historically , unit sales have increased in the latter part of the year due , in part , to the demand for syringes during the flu season . our products have been and continue to be distributed nationally and internationally through numerous distributors . although we have made limited progress in some areas , such as the alternate care market , our volumes are not as high as they should be given the nature and quality of our products and the federal and state legislation requiring the use of safe needle devices . the alternate care market is composed of facilities that provide long-term nursing and out-patient surgery , emergency care , physician services , health clinics , and retail pharmacies . 11 we continue to pursue various strategies to have better access to the hospital market , as well as other markets , including attempting to gain access to the market through our sales efforts , our innovative technology , introduction of new products , and , when necessary , litigation . we have reported in the past that our progress is limited principally due to the practices engaged in by bd , the dominant maker and seller of disposable syringes . we initiated an antitrust and false advertising lawsuit in 2007 against bd . although a district court judgment in 2015 awarded us $ 340 million in antitrust damages from bd and the fifth circuit affirmed a finding of false advertising liability against bd , we were ultimately awarded a take nothing judgment in august 2017 and the case was dismissed . we have filed for appeal . our litigation expenses were significantly less in 2017 than previous years and we have expanded our sales and marketing staff in an effort to gain market share . costs related to additional compensation , bonuses to ms. larios and mr. cowan , and stock option expense related to options granted in 2016 affected 2017 results . in january 2018 , congress imposed another two-year moratorium on the 2.3 % medical device excise tax imposed by internal revenue code section 4191. thus , the medical device excise tax will not go into effect until january 1 , 2020. in 2016 , we granted a right to three of our executive officers to purchase shares directly from the company . thomas j. shaw exercised such right on january 12 , 2017 , buying two million shares at market price for an aggregate purchase price of $ 1.78 million and purchased one million shares at market price on august 23 , 2017 for an aggregate purchase price of $ 570,100. we received approximately $ 1 million from our insurance carrier in the second quarter of 2017 and used these funds to repair our buildings from earlier storm damage . product purchases from our chinese manufacturers have enabled us to increase manufacturing capacity with little capital outlay and have provided a competitive manufacturing cost . in 2017 , our primary chinese manufacturer produced approximately 90.4 % of our vanishpoint ® syringes . story_separator_special_tag in the event that we become unable to purchase products from our chinese manufacturers , we would need to find an alternate manufacturer for the blood collection set , iv catheter , patient safe ® syringe , 0.5ml insulin syringe , 0.5ml autodisable syringe , and 2ml , 5ml , and 10ml syringes and we would increase domestic production for the 1ml and 3ml syringes . in 1995 , we entered into a license agreement with thomas j. shaw for the exclusive right to manufacture , market , and distribute products utilizing automated retraction technology . this technology is the subject of various patents and patent applications owned by mr. shaw . the license agreement generally provides for quarterly payments of a 5 % royalty fee on gross sales . with increased volumes , our manufacturing unit costs have generally tended to decline . factors that could affect our unit costs include increases in costs by third party manufacturers , changing production volumes , costs of petroleum products , and transportation costs . increases in such costs may not be recoverable through price increases of our products . results of operations the following discussion contains trend information and other forward-looking statements that involve a number of risks and uncertainties . our actual future results could differ materially from our historical results of operations and those discussed in the forward-looking statements . all period references are to our fiscal years ended december 2017 , 2016 , or 2015. dollar amounts have been rounded for ease of reading . comparison of year ended december 31 , 2017 and year ended december 31 , 2016 domestic sales accounted for 78.3 % and 88.2 % of the revenues in 2017 and 2016 , respectively . domestic revenues increased 2.7 % principally due to increased sales of easypoint ® and the blood collection set . domestic unit 12 sales increased 7.1 % . domestic unit sales were 69.5 % of total unit sales for 2017. international revenues increased from $ 3.5 million in 2016 to $ 7.5 million in 2017 , primarily due to increased volumes mitigated by lower average prices . overall unit sales increased 28.3 % . our international orders may be subject to significant fluctuation over time . such orders may fluctuate due to health initiatives at various times as well as economic conditions . cost of manufactured product increased $ 4.7 million principally due to higher volumes . royalty expense increased $ 337 thousand due to increased gross sales . gross profit margins decreased from 34.7 % in 2016 to 28.9 % in 2017 principally due to a larger portion of international sales which bear a lower average sales price . operating expenses decreased 0.7 % from the prior year due to decreased legal expenses and no impairment costs incurred in 2017 , offset by increased staffing in sales and marketing , stock option expense , and bonuses paid in 2017. the loss from operations was $ 3.8 million in 2017 compared to $ 3.5 million in 2016. we recorded $ 188 thousand in tax benefits in connection with the enactment of the tax cut and jobs act ( the act ) on december 22 , 2017. the act establishes new tax provisions that affect us including the elimination of the corporate alternative minimum tax and changing rules related to uses and limitations of net operating loss carry forwards created after december 31 , 2017. carry forward credits from alternative minimum taxes paid in prior years are now refundable in tax years beginning january 1 , 2018. cash flow from operations was a negative $ 2.9 million for 2017 due to our net loss , increased accounts receivable and other current assets , mitigated by noncash expenses of depreciation and stock option expense , lower inventory levels , increased liabilities , and insurance proceeds . comparison of year ended december 31 , 2016 and year ended december 31 , 2015 domestic sales accounted for 88.2 % and 77.9 % of the revenues in 2016 and 2015 , respectively . domestic revenues increased 14.2 % principally due to sales of our 1 ml syringe and easypoint ® needles . domestic unit sales increased 15.6 % . domestic unit sales were 83.3 % of total unit sales for 2016. international revenues decreased from $ 6.5 million in 2015 to $ 3.5 million in 2016 , primarily due to fluctuation in the timing of orders . overall unit sales decreased 7.0 % . our international orders may be subject to significant fluctuation over time . such orders may fluctuate due to health initiatives at various times as well as economic conditions . cost of manufactured product increased $ 448 thousand principally due to higher manufacturing costs . royalty expense increased $ 50 thousand due to increased gross sales . gross profit margins decreased from 35.8 % in 2015 to 34.7 % in 2016. operating expenses increased 0.6 % from the prior year due to an impairment charge of $ 456 thousand , stock option expense , consulting costs , and 401 ( k ) plan matching expense . the impairment charge of $ 456 thousand was related to patient safe ® assembly equipment . these expenses were largely offset by decreases in the medical device excise tax of $ 360 thousand , severance pay , professional fees , and bonus pay . a non-recurring recognition of $ 7.7 million received from bd in the second quarter of 2015 pursuant to a patent infringement case had a significant impact on 2015 income . recognizing this payment also significantly decreased 2015 current liabilities on the balance sheets . in 2015 , earnings per share was positively affected by our acquisition of 200,000 shares of iv class b convertible preferred stock . under the guidelines of asc 260-10-s99-2 , effect on the calculation of earnings per share for the redemption or induced conversion of preferred stock , we reflected the gain on extinguishment of this preferred stock

