Another J&J exec pressed in lawsuit over Pinnacle hip implant
September 16, 2014 by Brad Perriello
A plaintiff’s lawyer yesterday pushed the executive in charge of Johnson & Johnson’s global clinical research to admit that the medical device company failed to perform critical safety tests on the DePuy Pinnacle hip implant.
Worldwide clinical research vice president Pamela Plouhar was the 2nd J&J executive to face a grilling from Mark Lanier, the lawyer for plaintiff Kathy Herlihy-Paoli in the 1st lawsuit to go to trial over the Pinnacle implant. Read more
Did Boston Scientific lose $74M mesh trial over an email? | MassDevice.com On Call
September 19, 2014 by Arezu Sarvestani
Medtech titan Boston Scientific’s logged a major loss after winning a few rounds in the ongoing lawsuits over its vaginal sling implants, and the deciding factor may have been the revelation of an internal company email.
The Marlborough, Mass.-based medical device company won the first 2 lawsuits to go to trial in a Massachusetts state court, but a Dallas jury ruled earlier this month that Boston Scientific’s Obtryx pelvic mesh device caused Martha Salazar’s injuries, awarding her $73.5 million in damages. Read more
Boston Scientific must face trial in spat over stent patents
September 17, 2014 by Brad Perriello
Boston Scientific was dealt another setback this week after an appeals court declined to review a lower court’s decision denying summary judgment in a royalties dispute with 1 of the pioneers of coronary stents.
The case dates back to 1999, when Dr. David Jang won approval from the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office for patents covering a stent design featuring lateral struts linking parts of the stent. In 2002, Jang inked a deal worth up to $160 million to license the patents to Boston Scientific; Jang received $50 million up front, according to court documents, but only $10 million of the remaining $110 million in milestone payments. Read more
Allergan pushes to kick Valeant, Pershing out of special shareholder meeting
September 16, 2014 by Arezu Sarvestani
Allergan may have been forced to host a special shareholder meeting at the persistence of hostile acquirers Valeant Pharmaceuticals and Pershing Square Capital Management, but the company isn’t done fighting.
Valeant and Pershing agreed to drop their lawsuits since the meeting date was set, but Allergan’s still looking to prevent the companies from voting their shares during the meeting. Allergan was forced to schedule the special meeting after Valeant and Pershing hand-delivered documents to Allergan headquarters showing that they had garnered enough support from other shareholders. Read more
Medtronic settles CRM kickbacks case with final, $362k payment
September 19, 2014 by Brad Perriello
Medtronic made the final payment in the $11.1 million settlement of a 2009 lawsuit alleging that it ran a kickbacks scheme to induce physicians to use its cardiac rhythm management products, but admitted no wrongdoing in the agreement.
The lawsuit, filed by former Medtronic business development manager Adolfo Schroeder, alleged that the Fridley, Minn.-based medical device company paid doctors to speak at conferences, created free marketing and business plans and gave them free tickets to sporting events, restaurants and even strip clubs. Read more
