Motley Rice reaches $43 million settlement with Medtronic on behalf of investors
Motley Rice, serving as co-lead counsel, has reached a $43 million settlement with Medtronic, Inc. on behalf of shareholders who purchased the company’s common stock between September 8, 2010, and June 28, 2011, and suffered losses. The lead plaintiffs in the case were West Virginia Pipe Trades Health & Welfare Fund, Union Asset Management Holding AG, and Employee’s Retirement System of the State of Hawaii. The agreement, which the parties reached during ongoing litigation, has been submitted to the United States District Court for the District of Minnesota for preliminary approval.
The settlement resolves allegations that Medtronic, a medical device manufacturer, and certain of its executives, issued false and misleading statements and engaged in a fraudulent scheme to mislead the investing public regarding the company’s clinical trial design and reporting of clinical data and the risks associated with the use of the INFUSE® Bone Graft. In particular, investors alleged that in order to induce physician acceptance and generate consistent sales growth of INFUSE, Medtronic forged relationships, including financial relationships, with physician authors who published research articles in respected medical journals. These articles, several of which were allegedly ghost-written or edited by Medtronic employees, allegedly concealed or omitted known facts regarding INFUSE’s adverse side effects observed in clinical trials.
Motley Rice attorneys Jim Hughes, William Norton, Christopher Moriarty and Meghan Oliver represented investors in the litigation, which was first filed in 2013. After being dismissed, appealed and reversed over the course of five years of litigation, the case ultimately settled for a substantial percentage of investors’ estimated maximum provable damages.
The case is In re Medtronic, Inc. Securities Litigation, No. 0:13-cv-01686, in the U.S. District Court for the District of Minnesota. After the settlement receives preliminary approval, shareholders who purchased Medtronic’s common stock during the class period will be eligible to submit claims.