Medtech Giant Pushes Boundaries As Casualties Mount And Sales Soar

From garage startup to global dominance, Medtronic bent and broke rules in its relentless pursuit of success.

In the autumn of 2008, medical device giant Medtronic was in a tailspin. Profits were sliding. The company was battling hundreds of lawsuits over a heart device that was unnecessarily shocking some patients and failing to work at all in others.

Authorities in the United States were pursuing allegations that Medtronic had bribed doctors across Europe to use its products. Only months before, the company had agreed to pay $75 million to settle allegations that a subsidiary defrauded a U.S. government health program.

On Sunday night, Oct. 12, 2008, Medtronic’s ethics officer shipped three folders of documents marked confidential to inspectors at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services in Washington, D.C. The files, delivered to the government as part of one of the settlements, included a copy of Medtronic’s 10-page code of conduct. Among other things, it pledged, “no bribes, kickbacks, or other payments for illegal purposes shall be made.”

In the 10 years since the company pledged integrity, governments on four continents have accused Medtronic of promoting unauthorized uses of products, defrauding government health programs, fixing prices, paying doctors for favorable studies and engaging in anti-competitive conduct. read more »

International Medical Devices Database

Explore more than 70,000 Recalls, Safety Alerts and Field Safety Notices of medical devices and their connections with their manufacturers.

The Implant Files is an investigation by more than 250 journalists in 36 countries that tracks the global harm caused by medical devices that have been tested inadequately or not at all. read more »

DJ Khaled, Floyd Mayweather Jr. charged with cryptocurrency fraud

Music producer DJ Khaled and boxer Floyd Mayweather Jr. were charged by the Securities and Exchange Commission Thursday with promoting investments in initial cryptocurrency coin offerings without revealing that they'd been paid.

The SEC has said that cryptocurrency coins sold in initial coin offerings may be considered securities and subject to federal securities laws.

Both Khaled and Mayweather settled with the SEC and agreed not to promote any securities, even digital ones, for two years and three years, respectively. They also agreed to give back the money they'd received to the SEC and pay penalties with interest. read more »