Bloomberg News reports, “Boston Scientific Corp., Medtronic Inc., and five other companies promoted surgical devices for unapproved uses, cheating the federal Medicare program,” according to a whistleblower. The suits allege that “Boston Scientific and its Guidant Corp. unit ‘initiated a coordinated nationwide sales campaign (including the use of illegal kickbacks and other improper means) to entice physicians to use their products for off-label purposes.” Similar complaints were “filed…accusing companies including Medtronic, St. Jude Medical Inc., and Endoscopic Technologies Inc. of improperly marketing surgical ablation devices…for treatment of atrial fibrillation to increase sales.” The suits “were filed under the federal False Claims Act on behalf of the government, alleging the off-label marketing caused excessive Medicare reimbursements.” The companies are accused of encouraging “doctors and hospitals to use cardiac ablation as inpatient procedures, greatly increasing the cost.”
From the American Association for Justice news release.
