Say hello to MassDevice +3, a bite-sized view of the top three medtech stories of the day. This feature of MassDevice.com’s coverage highlights our 3 biggest and most influential stories from the day’s news to make sure you’re up to date on the headlines that continue to shape the medical device industry.

 

3. Counterclaims stand in whistleblower lawsuit against Boston Scientific

Boston Scientific’s breach-of-contract counterclaims will stand in a whistleblower lawsuit filed by a pair of former customer service employees over the medical device company’s Precision Plus spinal cord stimulation system, a federal judge ruled last week.

Whistleblowers Wendy Bahnsen and Carolina Fuentes in March 2011 accused Boston Scientific of submitting fraudulent Medicare and Medicaid billing claims, concealing defects and denying replacement devices, engaging in a kickbacks scheme and retaliating against employees who raised the red flag about such practices. Read more

2. J&J loses $3.3M verdict in pelvic mesh injury lawsuit

Johnson & Johnson’s Ethicon subsidiary has vowed to file an appeal after a federal jury found the company guilty of selling defective medical devices.

Just a day after the company urged the court to dismiss the lawsuit, the jury instead ordered the company to pay nearly $3.3 million after finding Ethicon guilty of negligence and failure to warn patients about the risks associated with its TVT-O transvaginal sling. Read more

1. Medtronic’s renal denervation no better at 1 year, researchers say

Renal denervation technologies took another blow this week as 1-year results from Medtronic’s much-lamented Symplicity HTN-3 trial still turned out no signs that the treatment is effective against hypertension.

The 12-month results, which included 6-month results from patients who switched from the control arm to the renal denervation arm, still haven’t found signs that renal denervation lowers blood pressure better than a sham treatment. Read more