Guidant can't slip breach-of-contract charges in Johnson & Johnson suit
July 8, 2014 by Brad Perriello
Boston Scientific subsidiary Guidant lost a bid to toss a breach-of-contract lawsuit brought by Johnson & Johnson after Boston won out in the bidding war over Guidant.
A federal judge in New York yesterday declined to grant Guidant’s sealed motion for summary judgment and gave the parties in the case until July 21 to explain why the documents should be left under seal, according to court documents. Read more
Biomet reveals SEC subpoena over alleged 'improprieties' in Brazil, Mexico
July 7, 2014 by Brad Perriello
Biomet said last week that the U.S. Securities & Exchange Commission issued a subpoena over alleged “improprieties” by Biomet employees in Brazil and Mexico, more than 2 years after the medical device company settled similar allegations with the SEC and the U.S. Justice Dept. for more than $22 million.
Warsaw, Ind.-based Biomet said July 3 that it “became aware of certain alleged improprieties regarding its operations in Brazil and Mexico” in October 2013 and retained lawyers and “other experts” to investigate. Read more
Appeals court upholds Retractable Technologies win over Becton Dickinson
July 7, 2014 by Brad Perriello
A federal appeals court today upheld a Retractable Technologies patent infringement win over Becton Dickinson & Co., denying Becton Dickinson’s bid to have the damages award reconsidered.
A jury found that BD infringed patents with both its 1ml and 3ml syringes, but an appeals court later ruled that only the smaller size trespassed on the intellectual property, leaving a $7.7 million damages award intact. Read more
Board suspends ex-PricewaterhouseCoopers accountant over ArthroCare scandal
July 8, 2014 by Brad Perriello
The fallout over a $400 million fraud scheme by former ArthroCare executives continued yesterday after a national accounting board announced the suspension of the former PricewaterhouseCoopers accountant who audited ArthroCare’s books but failed to turn up the scheme.
The Public Company Accounting Oversight Board barred Randall Stone from working for a registered public accounting firm for 3 years and leveled a $50,000 fine, according to a press release. Stone, who resigned from PwC June 30, did not admit or deny the board’s findings, according to the release. Read more
Covidien's Nellcor and CAS Medical settle dispute for $275k
July 7, 2014 by Arezu Sarvestani
Covidien’s Nellcor patient monitoring subsidiary and CAS Medical finally put to rest a legal battle over a contract dispute and a patent infringement claim.
Under the terms of the settlement Nellcor agreed to dismiss its patent litigation with prejudice in return for a $275,000 payment and a promise from CAS that it won’t pursue claims for legal fees or file lawsuits over “certain comparative advertising matters.” Read more