Akron, Ohio Law offices of Warner Mendenhall, Attorney - Akron, Ohio Law offices of Warner Mendenhall, Attorney

Working with an internal whistleblower, Attorney Warner Mendenhall, the Law firm of McLaughlin and McCaffrey, LLP, and Assistant United States Attorneys Alex Rokakis and Michelle Heyer have worked for four years to expose False Claims by St. Jude Medical, Inc.. As a result of the investigation, St. Jude has agreed to return $3.75 million dollars to the federal government to settle the allegations that St. Jude used improper incentives to gain market share for its cardiac devices. The whistleblower will receive $640,000 as a reward for his assistance to the United States.

St. Jude Medical is a medical device manufacturer headquartered in St. Paul, Minnesota.  Its primary business is the manufacture and sale of cardiac medical devices such as pacemakers and implantable cardiac defibrillators (“ICDs”).  The case hinged on whether or not St. Jude was providing illegal incentives to doctors and hospitals to purchase their medical devices.  Warner Mendenhall stated that "The incentives had a tremendous impact on the Doctors independent decision making. These types of incentives to gain market share shortchange patient care options for doctors and patients alike.  These incentives have more to do with sales than patient well-being."  The Complaint can be found at http://www.docstoc.com/docs/39559633/US-ex-rel-Hudson-v-St-Jude-Medical.

Department of Justice announcement of settlement is here: http://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/2010/June/10-civ-658.html