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Senate Committee, Attorney's Office Examining Medtronic Payments

December 12, 2007

Leading device company Medtronic is dealing with a number of investigations related to its financial ties with physicians and hospitals, an SEC filing reveals.

In the SEC filing, Medtronic announced the Senate Finance Committee is requesting information about the company’s financial ties with physicians. The committee also requested information about its decision to suspend distribution of its Sprint Fidelis family of defibrillation leads. 

The filing says Medtronic received a letter in late October from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania requesting documents relating to its relationship with one of its customers and any payments provided to physicians, physician groups, hospitals, medical practices or other entities relating to the purchase of Medtronic’s cardiac resynchronization therapy devices and cardiac stents.

In September, the company received a letter from the SEC requesting information relating to any potential violations of the U.S. Foreign Corrupt Practices Act in connection with the sale of medical devices in an unspecified number of foreign countries.

The company said it is cooperating with all of these requests and investigations.