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You’re not going to believe this, but Medtronic Incorporated has just agreed to pay shareholders
$85 million dollars to settle a lawsuit. My name is Gary Falkowitz and I’m an attorney
at Parker Waichman in the mass torts litigation department. The Minneapolis based company
said in a statement that it had reached an agreement in principal to resolve the lawsuits,
subject to final documentation and court approval. However, despite the settlement, Medtronic
continues to deny any wrongdoing in the matter. Investors first brought suit against Medtronic
in 2008 saying that it had deliberately prompted its Infuse spinal graft for off-label uses
and failed to disclose that the system’s sales revenues were largely dependent on unapproved
uses. An off-label use is a use in which the FDA did not provide approval to the manufacturer
of the company. The complaint states that Medtronic stock dropped 13% after it revealed
in 2009 that the United States Department of Justice was investigating the alleged promotion
of off-label uses for Infuse. Infuse contains recombinant human bone morphogenetic protein
2. Over short, RHBMP2, it is used to spur bone growth in targeted areas of the spine.
The product is approved to treat lower back problems, such as degenerative disk disease,
but was regularly used in other procedures like surgical spine fusions - which the FDA
has not approved, according to the complaint. The settlement covers a class of investors
that purchased Medtronic stock between November 2006 and November 2008 and were damaged by
the purchase. Medtronic presented Infuse by a valuable and reliable source of revenue
for the company, including the generation of approximately $800 million dollars in revenue
during the fiscal year before the complaint was filed in 2008, the suit said. But there
was more to the story though. Two senators have demanded that Medtronic turn over company
records on the product, citing concerns that researchers tied to the health giant failed
to report serious side effects including sterility. Isn’t it time companies stop lying to the
public and began to be accountable for its actions? Sure Medtronic is paying its shareholders
some compensation, but what about the real victims? The ones that had this product planted
inside of them without the adequate notice of how dangerous it could be if used off-label?
You’re probably watching this video because you may have had Medtronic Infuse implanted
inside of your vertebra. I answer questions about the use of Medtronic Infuse every single
day. Here’s what I want you to do. I want you to give a call to the phone number below.
My name is Gary Falkowitz and I thank you for watching this today.