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Sales Probe Against J&J Ends

May 11, 2005

New York Attorney General Eliot Spitzer has closed an investigation concerning Johnson & Johnson's (J&J) marketing practices, the company announced in its first quarter report filed with the SEC.

Spitzer and other government officials had been looking into potential anticompetitive practices in sales of surgical devices to hospitals by units of J&J. In addition to the Spitzer investigation, the FTC and the Connecticut state attorney general have been conducting similar inquiries. Spitzer's office advised J&J in February that the investigation was closed; the filing didn't disclose the status of the other investigations.

J&J has said the officials were examining the bundling of sutures and endoscopic instruments in hospital contracts, especially contracts in which hospitals could earn discounts if they met market-share targets.