For nearly a decade, sales representatives from the prominent medical device maker, Medtronic, allegedly operated a bribery scheme at a Kansas veterans hospital. This scheme is said to have wasted millions of taxpayer dollars and put patients’ lives at risk, according to a recently unsealed whistleblower lawsuit. The employees from Medtronic are accused of bribing hospital staff to purchase their devices over those of competitors and to buy excessive amounts of inventory. The lawsuit, filed by Tom Schroeder in 2017, became public at the end of 2020 when the government decided not to intervene. Schroeder, a former sales manager at Becton Dickinson, a direct competitor to Medtronic, stated that his motivation for filing the suit was the possibility of veterans being harmed by medically unnecessary procedures. Medtronic, the world’s largest medical device manufacturer in terms of revenue, has denied the allegations and said it will defend itself against the litigation. The lawsuit centers around the treatment of peripheral artery disease at the Robert J. Dole Veterans Affairs Medical Center in Wichita, with claims of an excessive number of devices being used in procedures. The hospital conducted its own investigation, which found that they were purchasing more devices than other veterans medical facilities. The case was referred to the VA’s Office of Inspector General, which has an ongoing investigation. Medtronic has previously paid settlements related to kickback schemes and fraud allegations but has not admitted any wrongdoing. The company contends that Schroeder lacks firsthand knowledge of problematic procedures involving Medtronic devices and that physicians performing these procedures did not receive additional compensation.
Medtronic Accused of Involvement in Bribery Scheme, Claims Whistleblower
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