Health Care Compliance: Boston Scientific Agrees to Pay $22 Million as Part of Settlement
On Christmas Eve it was announced that Boston Scientific has agreed to pay $22 million as it settles claims that one of its divisions gave kickbacks to doctors.
According to the Minneapolis-St. Paul Business Journal, the Guidant division of Boston Scientific provided kickbacks to doctors in exchange for using their pacemakers and defribrillators.
Boston Scientific is not admitting any wrong-doing as a part of the settlement, but is saying that it will be more vigilant in terms of compliance:
It did agree that its cardiac rhythm management business, which became part of Boston Scientific through its acquisition of Guidant in 2006, will adhere to enhanced compliance procedures related to financial arrangements with health care providers. Those procedures include using a Web site to publicly disclose payments to doctors.
The allegations go back to before Boston Scientific’s purchase of Guidant. Prosecutors claimed Guidant used post-market studies to boost device sales, paying doctors between $1,000 to $1,500 per study. Each study involved implanting multiple Guildant devices.
Tags: boston scientific, guidant, Healthcare Compliance, kickbacks, settlement
