$23.5M Medtronic settlement ends physician kickbacks investigation

Medtronic (NYSE:MDT) will shell out $23.5 million to settle accusations that it paid kickbacks to doctors who implanted its pacemakers and cardiac defibrillators, the company announced Monday.

Medtronic was accused of soliciting physicians to participate in post-market studies and device registries, offering them between $1,000 and $2,000 per patient for using Medtronic’s device, according to the U.S. Department of Justice. The government also said Medtronic caused false claims to be submitted to Medicare and Medicaid.

Despite the settlement, Medtronic said in a statement that it did not admit wrongdoing.

“Medtronic is happy to have this investigation behind us, so we can continue designing and executing clinical trials that generate evidence to improve patient care, outcomes and cost-effectiveness,” said Dr. Marshall Stanton, vice president for clinical research and reimbursement in the cardiac and vascular group at Medtronic.

Two years ago, Boston Scientific Corp. settled a similar kickback suit with $22 million, and in January, St. Jude Medical paid $16 million to do the same.

In the company’s most recent earnings call, Medtronic executives attributed an 8 percent decline in revenue from its Cardiac Rhythm Disease Management unit to declining procedure volumes resulting from legal investigators around stents and defibrillators.

The Findlay-based device maker is still undergoing a separate DOJ investigation after accusations that doctors who received kickbacks from the company failed to report side effects associated with Medtronic’s Infuse bone growth product.