Acelity subsidiary Kinetic Concepts Inc was awarded $645 million in trebled damages in a suit against Healthcare Essentials in which KCI alleged that the company stole its VAC negative pressure wound therapy technology, rebranded it and sold it as its own, according to recently released court documents.
US District Judge Benita Pearson said that defendants in the case, which included Healthcare Essentials and select executives from the company, engaged in “flagrant discovery abuses,” including filing false affidavits, refusing to produce relevant communications and documents, fabricating invoices and inventory spreadsheets, destroying digital and physical evidence and intimidating “at least two witnesses.”
Base compensatory damages were assessed at approximately $215 million, which Judge Pearson said “errs on the side of conservative estimates,” according to court documents.
All parties in the case agreed that damages should be trebled, though they disagreed whether lost-profits damages should be trebled, according to court documents. Trebling of market value figures was estimated at $18.2 million, and trebling of lost-profits was estimated at $590.3 million,
Total trebled damages were assessed at $645 million for all defendants, according to court documents.
In June, Acelity said that it inked a deal to acquire advanced wound care and dermatology company Crawford Healthcare for an undisclosed amount.
