A patient who received a defective implantable defibrillator will receive a $2.25 million award for filing a whistleblower lawsuit that exposed improper marketing practices concerning these medical devices.
The whistleblower filed this False Claims Act lawsuit against Boston Scientific Corp. and its subsidiaries, Guidant LLC, Guidant Sales LLC and Cardiac Pacemakers Inc., alleging that the defendants knowingly sold defective heart devices that were implanted into Medicare patients.
According to the whistleblower’s allegations, the devices contained a defect that resulted in “arcing,” which caused the devices to short circuit and quit working. Although the defendants were aware of the problem, they continued to sell their remaining stock of defective devices. Additionally, the defendants took steps to conceal the problem from patients, doctors, and government officials.
For more information on this case, click here: http://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/2013/October/13-civ-1107.html