In a recent filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), Medtronic Inc. of Minneapolis, MN has disclosed that in September, Medtronic received a subpoena from the Office of Inspector General (OIG) for the Department of Health and Human Services in the District of California. The subpoena requested production of documents relating to Medtronic's cardiac rhythm medical devices including, according to the SEC filing, "revenue, sales, marketing and promotional documents, documents relating to reimbursement, communications to customers pertaining to the devices, documents relating to scientific studies and registries pertaining to the devices, and documents relating to payments or items of value provided to customers." Medtronic stated it will comply as required with the terms of the subpoena.

Last month, Boston Scientific Corporation of Natick, MA, also disclosed in an SEC filing that it had received a subpoena from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Office of Inspector General, in September. The Boston Scientific subpoena requested information related to contributions the Cardiac Rhythm Management group made to charities with ties to physicians or their families. Boston Scientific's Cardiac Rhythm Management Group develops implantable cardiac rhythm devices. Boston Scientific stated in the filing that it is currently "working with the government to understand the scope of the subpoena."

More Voices