Payment Disclosures Shouldnt Hurt J&J

New Brunswick, NJ-based Johnson & Johnson’s disclosure that foreign subsidiaries may have made improper payments related to the sale of medical devices overseas should not be a major problem for the health care giant, analysts said told the Associated Press on Tuesday.

Investors also shrugged off the news, which included the sudden ‘”retirement’” of a top executive, and shares dipped only slightly. Shares were down just 5 cents at $65.41, in midday trading on the New York Stock Exchange, still near their 52-week high of $69.41.

Late Monday, New Brunswick-based J&J said in a statement that it had voluntarily disclosed the information, which involved operations ”in two small-market countries,” to the Justice Department and the Securities and Exchange Commission, and would cooperate with the agencies in their review.

Spokesmen for both federal agencies on Tuesday said they would have no comment on the case, as is customary.

J&J said the corporate officer overseeing the subsidiaries, Michael J. Dormer, 55, was retiring immediately. Dormer, worldwide chairman of the Medical Devices and Diagnostics segment, also was a member of the company’s executive committee, the management group responsible for operations.

The company declined Tuesday to disclose the subsidiaries, countries, products, other employees and time period involved. Its statement said the subsidiaries’ actions broke J&J’s own corporate policies and fell within the jurisdiction of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, which bars publicly traded companies from bribing officials in other countries to get or retain business.