MassDevice

The Medical Device Business Journal — Medical Device News & Articles | MassDevice

Home » NuVasive denied stay in class action kickback suit

NuVasive denied stay in class action kickback suit

By

gavelNuVasive Inc. (NSDQ:NUVA) was denied a stay of action last week as it looks to pause a class action case which alleges that the company lost share value after it hid a kickback scheme.

NuVasive was requesting the stay while it appeals a case that was certified in March. The motion appointed Brad Mass and Daniel Popov as class representatives.

Judge Jeffrey Miller of the US District Court of the Southern District of California denied the request for a stay last Thursday, according to court documents.

“Here, Defendants’ motion to stay is not well-founded because they fail to establish a serious legal question or that they would be irreparably harmed if a stay is not granted,” Judge Miller wrote in court documents.

Judge Miller wrote that public interests “caution against granting a stay of this action,” according to the documents. “This case is nearly four-years old and the public has an interest in the efficient prosecution of securities laws and seeking to hold alleged corporate wrongdoers accountable. This factor does not favor a stay.”

Plaintiffs in the suit allege that NuVasive submitted false claims to Medicare and Medicaid in violation of state laws and regulations, and that the company made illegal kickbacks to doctors and engaged in off-label promotion of its products and services, according to court documents.

NuVasive paid approximately $13.5 million in fines and penalties related to the alleged actions, according to the plaintiffs, while shareholders “suffered significant losses and damages,” according to court documents.

The payment dates back to 2015, when the company finalized a previously announced deal with the Justice Dept. NuVasive said in July 2013 that the U.S. Health & Human Services Dept.’s inspector general issued a subpoena “in connection with an investigation into possible false or otherwise improper claims submitted to Medicare and Medicaid” for documents from January 2007 through April 2013. In April the company said it agreed to pay $13.8 million to settle the probe.

On July 29, 2015 NuVasive said the deal called for it to pay $13.5 million, plus fees and accrued interest, but admitted no wrongdoing in the case.

In case you missed it

RSS From Medical Design & Outsourcing

  • COVID-19 immunity test developers at MIT seek diagnostic manufacturer
    MIT researchers have developed a device for predicting an individual’s COVID-19 immunity and are looking for a diagnostic company to get it manufactured in large numbers and approved by the FDA. The lateral flow test uses the same technology as at-home rapid antigen COVID-19 tests to measure neutralizing antibodies for SARS-CoV-2 in a blood sample,… […]
  • GE Healthcare picks AI imaging startups for inaugural Edison Accelerator
    GE Healthcare and Nex Cubed have selected seven companies focused on artificial-intelligence-augmented medical imaging for the first cohort of the Edison Accelerator in Canada. The companies will be matched with mentors and test their technologies with GE’s new Edison Digital Health Platform over the next three months. The program will end with innovation showcase presentations… […]
  • Boston Scientific whistleblower launches corruption investigation
    Boston Scientific (NYSE:BSX) is investigating claims that the company violated the U.S. Foreign Corrupt Practices Act in Vietnam. Marlborough, Massachusetts–based Boston Scientific disclosed receipt of a whistleblower’s allegations in its latest filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. “In March 2022, the company received a whistleblower letter alleging Foreign Corrupt Practices Act violations in Vietnam.… […]
  • 5 essential leadership lessons from Cathy Burzik for medtech’s next generation of women leaders
    Cathy Burzik, a seasoned senior executive in the healthcare industry, has successfully led major medical device, diagnostic, diagnostic imaging and life sciences businesses. Cathy Burzik, CFB Interests (as told to MedExecWomen co-founder Maria Shepherd) One key to being a successful women leader in MedTech: “Play nice, but play to win.” Cathy Burzik, who received a… […]
  • Stratasys plans to buy Covestro’s additive manufacturing business
    Stratasys (Nasdaq:SSYS) said today that it has a deal to purchase the additive manufacturing materials business of Covestro. The deal includes R&D facilities and activities, global development and sales teams across Europe, the U.S. and China, a portfolio of approximately 60 additive manufacturing materials, and hundreds of patents and patents pending, Stratasys said in a… […]
  • New implant design prevents scar tissue without drugs, MIT says
    Mechanically inflating and deflating an implantable device for 10 minutes a day prevents immune cells from building the scar tissue that has been a major obstacle for artificial pancreas researchers. That’s according to new findings from a team of MIT engineers who built mechanical deflection into a two-chambered, soft polyurethane device tested on mice. By… […]
  • Blue Spark’s TempTraq catches fevers faster. Fever prediction is next.
    Blue Spark Technologies developed the first wireless continuous temperature monitor patch, TempTraq, to enable faster fever detection than standard manual readings every four hours. Westlake, Ohio-based Blue Spark is now looking at fever prediction rather than just detecting them. The R&D team is working on developing an AI neural network model built on the company’s… […]
  • Harvard researchers plan to sell at-home, PCR-grade COVID testing system
    The Harvard University researchers who developed an ultrasensitive, PCR-grade nucleic acid detection technology plan to commercialize it as a portable COVID-19 test. Harvard Medical School professor Peng Yin, who also leads the Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering’s Molecular Robotics Initiative, founded 3EO Health to sell the device. “In order to optimize the value of… […]
  • FDA reports sterilization challenge progress as EPA takes aim at EtO emissions
    The FDA offered an update on its efforts to make medical device sterilization safer as the EPA identified 23 U.S. facilities where use of ethylene oxide (EtO) presents a risk to communities. The FDA said it is similarly concerned about unsafe EtO emissions and highlighted work with the medical device industry to reduce EtO usage… […]
  • AdvaMed defends EtO facilities on EPA’s cancer risk list
    The Advanced Medical Technology Association (AdvaMed) today reacted to the EPA’s listing of commercial sterilization facilities causing elevated risks of cancer with a defense of the facilities and a call for more research. AdvaMed CEO and President Scott Whitaker said all of the listed facilities are in compliance with regulations and warned against closures. “The… […]
  • EPA flags high-cancer-risk EtO sterilization facilities across the country
    The EPA today identified nearly two dozen U.S. cities where commercial sterilizers using ethylene oxide (EtO) contribute to an elevated cancer risk for residents of surrounding communities. EtO is used on about 20 billion medical devices each year — or about half of all sterile medical devices —  and in some cases it’s the only… […]