A New Jersey judge decided last week to allow accusers to move forward with a lawsuit against medical device giant Boston Scientific (NYSE:BSX) and its neuromodulation unit.
The lawsuit, filed in March 2011 and unsealed in August 2012, alleges that Boston Scientific ran a scheme to defraud Medicare and promote off-label use of its Precision Plus spinal cord stimulation system.
Judge Susan Wigenton denied Boston Scientific’s motion to dismiss the lawsuit, to disqualify attorneys working for the plaintiffs and to strike certain confidential information, according to legal documents.
The lawsuit contains 29 counts alleging that Boston Scientific sold the spinal cord stimulation devices without certificates of medical necessity and faked diagnostic codes for the Precision Plus device.
The suit also claims that Boston Scientific Neuromodulation Corp. falsely certified its truthfulness and compliance on claim forms. The company allegedly shipped the device before receiving orders from physicians, faking records to alter the shipping date, according to accusers.
