Boston Scientific To Pay $74 Million To Settle Probe

Boston Scientific of Natick, MA will pay $74 million to settle a U.S. Department of Justice probe of the company’s handling of a 1998 voluntary recall of its NIR ON Ranger with SOX stent system, which it no longer markets or sells. The settlement was announced by U.S. Attorney Michael Sullivan in Boston. Neither the department or the company disclosed details of the settlement.

The settlement brings to a conclusion a criminal investigation that dates back six years. No charges were brought against the company or any employee.

“We are very pleased that a six-year investigation into the 1998 recall of a now-obsolete product and related events has ended with no charges against the company or any employee,” said CEO Jim Tobin. “The settlement involves no admission of any wrongdoing. We believe that Boston Scientific and its employees acted legally, responsibly and appropriately at all times. We elected to settle this lingering matter so we could put it behind us and devote our full energies to developing our life-saving medical technologies.”

While the company did not admit to wrongdoings, Sullivan said the company did not appropriately handle the recall. “This case represents a failure by Boston Scientific to take the most appropriate steps in a timely manner to ensure that the devices it was distributing to hospitals nationwide performed properly,” he said in a statement.