Marc Alain Bohn, Miller & Chevalier Orthofix International in January entered into its second Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) settlement in less than 5 years, resolving allegations with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission that the company’s Brazilian subsidiary made improper payments to doctors at government-owned hospitals in Brazil to increase sales. Orthofix consented to the entry […]
Foreign Corrupt Practices Act
Medical device enforcement is getting more serious—particularly in Northeast
There has been aggressive momentum on the side of federal medical device anti-corruption enforcers, in particular in the Northeast. Maureen Ruane and Scott McBride, Lowenstein Sandler There are more questions than answers on what a new and unconventional administration in the White House will do in 2017 in many areas, no less so in medical […]
Former Bio-Rad GC Wadler wins $11m in retaliatory firing suit
A federal jury in California yesterday reportedly awarded the former general counsel for Bio-Rad Laboratories (NYSE:BIO), Sanford Wadler, nearly $11 million in a whistleblower retaliation lawsuit Wadler brought against his former employer. After a 3-hour deliberation, the jury in the U.S. District Court for Northern California awarded Sadler $2.9 million in back pay and stocks […]
BK Medical gets $15m from Analogic over SEC charges
The U.S. Securities & Exchange Commission said today that Analogic (NSDQ:ALOG) agreed to pony up $15 million to settle civil and criminal charges brought over violations of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act. The SEC said Peabody, Mass.-based Analogic’s Danish subsidiary, BK Medical, ran hundreds of sham transactions with distributors to funnel some $20 million to 3rd parties, […]
Alere slides on Justice Dept. subpoena, late filing
Alere (NYSE:ALR) shares took a hit today after revealing a U.S. Justice Dept. subpoena for documents on its sales practices in Africa, Asia and Latin America under the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, as it prepared for its nearly $6 billion acquisition by Abbott (NYSE:ABT). The March 11 subpoena asks for documents on Alere’s dealings with 3rd-party distributors and […]
Ex-GC sues Bio-Rad, alleging retaliation for blowing the whistle
The former general counsel for Bio-Rad (NYSE:BIO) accused the company and CEO Norman Schwartz of firing him in retaliation for blowing the whistle on alleged violations of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act in China. Sanford Wadler, who was general counsel and executive vice president when Bio-Rad sacked him in June 2013, alleged that he was fired right before […]
Feds extend Biomet’s deferred prosecution deal for another year
Biomet said yesterday that the U.S. Justice Dept. extended by a year the deferred prosecution agreement reached in 2012 over alleged violations of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act.
Indian media accuse Medtronic, Abbott, J&J of price-hikes, bribery

Some of medtech’s biggest players are getting a beating in the Indian media, where reports this week accused them of turning a blind eye to unethical behavior from their distributors in the country.