Whistleblower Lawsuit Against Boston Scientific Proceeds in Federal Court
A whistleblower lawsuit brought by former employees of Boston Scientific Neuromodulation Corp. accuses the company of presenting fraudulent claims and engaging in an kickback scheme with doctors involving its Precision Plus spinal cord stimulation system. Two former Boston Scientific employees filed the case alleging that, in addition to presenting fraudulent Medicare claims, the company pushed a non-approved use of the device through the use of illegal financial incentives to doctors.
The Precision Plus device had been approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration is 2004 to treat certain back pain, but the relators who brought this whistleblower lawsuit have alleged that Boston Scientific actively and illegally promoted uses of the device that exceeded the scope of the FDA approval. In May 2013, Boston Scientific failed in its bid to have the whistleblower claims dismissed in federal court.
In a somewhat novel attempt to defeat the whistleblower claims, Boston Scientific sought to defeat the claims by arguing that the facts forming the basis of the whistleblower claims were confidential in nature, and the individuals bringing the whistleblower lawsuit should be barred from using such confidential information as the basis for a lawsuit. The U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey ruled recently that although the use of this information may form a basis for viable breach of contract claims by Boston Scientific, any confidential nature of this information would not in itself serve to defeat the whistleblower claims.
A whistleblower lawsuit is a claim based on information brought to government attention by employees or insiders with direct knowledge that a company or entity is defrauding the government either by presenting false claims for payment, engaging in illegal kickback schemes, or other orchestrated activity that illegally drains government resources.
If you believe that you may have direct knowledge os such corporate fraud, you can request a free consultation with a whistleblower attorney at Audet & Partners, LLP either by calling us at (800) 965-1461, or by completing and submitting our confidential inquiry form on the right side of this page. By law, employers are prohibited from retaliating against employees bring such whistleblower claims whether in the form of termination or imposing other adverse employment consequences.
