Exactech Reaches End of DPA

Exactech Inc., a manufacturer of bone and joint restoration products for hip, knee, shoulder, spine and biologic materials, has reached the end of its Deferred Prosecution Agreement (DPA) with the government. The agreement has expired.

The company entered into the DPA on Dec. 7, 2010, with the United States Attorney’s Office for the District of New Jersey. The company satisfied its obligations under the agreement and has received a Notice of Dismissal of the complaint. Neither the DPA nor the complaint alleged that the company’s conduct adversely affected patient health or patient care.

Like the other orthopedic companies that completed their DPAs, Exactech is under a Corporate Integrity Agreement (CIA) administered by the Office of Inspector General of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Exactech’s CIA extends until Dec. 7, 2015.

“We are pleased to reach closure of this process and to have the systems in place to ensure effective, efficient compliance,” said Exactech chairman and CEO Bill Petty. “We will continue to practice the highest standards of ethics, which have been and will continue to be hallmarks of our corporate culture.”

A number of companies, including Wright Medical Technologies Inc., Stryker Corp., Zimmer Holdings Inc., Biomet Inc., Smith & Nephew Plc, J&J’s DePuy division, entered DPAs with the government. Out of that group, Wright’s is the only one that hasn’t yet expired, and is due to do so in September. DOJ filed criminal complaints against the companies, charging them with conspiring to violate the federal anti-kickback statute. The criminal complaints accuse the firms of using consulting agreements with orthopedic surgeons as inducements to use a particular company’s device.

Exactech is based in Gainesville, Fla.