Boston Scientific Faces 1,430 Guidant-Related Lawsuits

Boston Scientific Corp. today disclosed that it’s facing a lawsuit alleging that its balloon catheters infringe on a German patent.

Boston Scientific, a Natick, MA-based medical device company, said it faces a similar suit in Texas, according to a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

The suits, which were filed by SciCo Tec GmbH, seek monetary and injunctive relief. Boston Scientific said it will answer the lawsuits and deny the allegations.

Separately, the company said the tally of lawsuits related to 2005 issues with Guidant heart-rhythm devices has grown to more than 1,430 cases.

Boston Scientific said it’s now facing more than 1,350 individual lawsuits and about 80 product-liability lawsuits linked to the Guidant implantable defibrillator troubles in 2005. The number of cases has grown from a combined total of 1,175 cases, which the company disclosed in its annual report with the SEC in March.

Guidant was already facing hundreds of lawsuits over recalled devices when Boston Scientific bought the company for about $27 billion last year. Most cases are pending in federal court, while 105 are pending in state courts, according to the filing.

The first federal court trail is scheduled for July 30. According to the company’s annual report from March, the first trial had originally been scheduled for July 16.

SOURCE: THE BOSTON GLOBE