Olympus Reaches $646M Settlement Over FCPA, Kickback Investigations

Olympus will cough up a total of $646 million to settle two investigations for making illegal payments to doctors and hospitals in the U.S. and Latin America.

The maker of endoscopes and related equipment will pay $623.2 million to resolve criminal charges and civil claims relating to a scheme to pay kickbacks to doctors and hospitals, the U.S. Department of Justice announced.

Olympus Corp. of the Americas will pay $623.2 million to settle violations of the federal and various state False Claims Acts. The DoJ notes that the amount is the largest paid in U.S. history for violations involving the anti-kickback statute by a medical device company.

Separately, Olympus Latin America, will pay $22.8 million to resolve criminal charges relating to the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act in Latin America.

DoJ says Olympus won new business and rewarded sales by giving doctors and hospitals kickbacks, including consulting payments, foreign travel, lavish meals, millions of dollars in grants and free endoscopes.

Additionally, the subsidiary implemented a plan from 2006 to 2011, to increase medical equipment sales in Central and South America by providing payments to health care practitioners at government-owned facilities, according to the Justice Department.

Under the settlement, Olympus also agreed to enhance its compliance training, maintain a confidential hotline and website for reports of wrongdoing and adopt a program requiring executives who engage in misconduct to forfeit up to three years of performance pay. — Jonathon Shacat