Medtronic reaches $23.5 million settlement with US Department of Justice
Medtronic, the largest maker of medical devices, has agreed to pay the United States $23.5 million to resolve allegations that it used physician payments related to post-market studies and device registries as kickbacks to induce doctors to implant the company’s pacemakers and defibrillators. Although Medtronic collected data and information from participating physicians, each of the studies and registries required an implant of a Medtronic device in each patient and Medtronic paid participating physicians a fee ranging from $1,000 to $2,000 per patient. “Patients who rely on their healthcare providers to implant vital medical devices expect that those decisions will be made with the patients’ best interests in mind,” said Tony West, Assistant Attorney General for the Civil Division. “Kickbacks, like those alleged here, distort sound medical judgments with financial incentives paid for by the taxpayers.”