Judge triples damages in antitrust lawsuit, ordering Johnson & Johnson MedTech to pay $442M
A bad outcome for Johnson & Johnson MedTech just got significantly worse.
A California judge has entered his judgment in Innovative Health’s lawsuit against Johnson & Johnson’s Biosense Webster division, which now goes by the name Johnson & Johnson MedTech. A jury previously ruled in Innovative Health’s favor, ordering Johnson & Johnson MedTech to pay approximately $147 million in damages for withholding clinical support to healthcare providers using reprocessed catheters. Now, however, that total has tripled from $147.4 million to $442.2 million. This step often occurs in cases involving fraud and antitrust violations.
Judge James V. Selna of the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California made his decision final on Thursday, June 5.
Background on this ruling
Arizona-based Innovative Health is a medical device reprocessing company focused exclusively on cardiology. Nearly 10 years ago, Biosense Webster stopped offering free support to customers that use reprocessed Carto 3 catheters. After that, the company only provided the service when the catheters were purchased directly from Biosense Webster. Innovative Health filed a lawsuit at that point, claiming the new policy was in violation of state and federal antitrust laws.
When the jury’s ruling on Innovative Health LLC v. Biosense Webster Inc. was announced back in May, a Johnson & Johnson MedTech representative told Cardiovascular Business the company was “disappointed” with the jury’s decision.
Johnson & Johnson MedTech shares a statement
When asked about the new total, Johnson & Johnson MedTech's perspective is the same as it was when the original ruling was first announced in May. The company is confident the decision will be ultimately appealed.
"For more than a decade, Biosense Webster has supported hospitals and physicians with high-quality technologies and clinical support services," a company spokesperson told Cardiovascular Business. "We strongly disagree with the jury’s verdict and believe it will not withstand appellate review. In the meantime, we will comply with the ruling and any court-ordered relief pending the outcome of the appellate process."
‘A seismic result’
The Association of Medical Device Reprocessors (AMDR) celebrated the update, highlighting what this represents for the medical device industry going forward.
“This is a seismic result,” Daniel J. Vukelich, president and CEO of AMDR, said in a statement. “The court not only affirmed what the jury found—that Johnson & Johnson illegally monopolized and tied the market to undermine reprocessed medical devices—but took the additional step of tripling the damages, as allowed under antitrust law. This sends an unmistakable message to all device manufacturers: anti-competitive, anti-reprocessing tactics won’t be tolerated by the courts or by hospitals committed to cost savings, sustainability, and patient care.”
Michael has more than 18 years of experience as a professional writer and editor. He has written at length about cardiology, radiology, artificial intelligence and other key healthcare topics.