St. Jude Medical Inc. To Pay $3.65 Million For Falsely Inflating Price Of Pacemakers And Defibrillators
- June 08, 2012 by Qui Tam
- Federal False Claims Act, Government Contracts, Healthcare
St. Jude Medical Inc., a medical device company based out of Little Canada, Minnesota, agreed to pay $3.65 million to the federal government to settle False Claims Act allegations that it falsely inflated the price of pacemakers and defibrillators sold to the government.
According to the to the Justice Department, St. Jude would actively market its pacemakers and defibrillators by touting extensive credits which were available to buyers if the device needed to be replaced while under warranty. However, St. Jude knowingly failed to give these credits to device buyers, including the Department of Veterans Affairs and Department of Defense hospitals, even when the product was replaced while still under warranty.
The settlement arose from a case brought by two whistleblowers under the qui tam provisions of the False Claims Act. As their share of the settlement, the whistleblowers will receive $730,000 as their share of the settlement.
For more information see:
http://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/2012/May/12-civ-694.html