Johnson & Johnson MedTech faces threat of permanent injunction after losing antitrust case
Johnson & Johnson MedTech’s legal battle with Innovative Health is far from over.
On June 5, a California judge ordered Johnson & Johnson’s Biosense Webster division—which now goes by the name Johnson & Johnson MedTech—to pay more than $442 million in damages for withholding clinical support to healthcare providers who use reprocessed catheters.
Now, Innovative Health is requesting a permanent injunction that would prohibit the healthcare giant from restricting service based on whether or not the device is reprocessed for ten years. A hearing is scheduled for July.
A bit of context about this case
Arizona-based Innovative Health, a medical device reprocessing company focused exclusively on cardiology, filed the initial lawsuit after Biosense Webster stopped offering free support to customers using reprocessed Carto 3 catheters. The company believed the policy was in violation of both state and federal antitrust laws—and the jury for the case seems to have agreed.
Johnson & Johnson MedTech was originally ordered to pay $147 million for these violations, but that total was tripled to $442.2 million as often happens with cases involving fraud and antitrust issues.
Johnson & Johnson MedTech, meanwhile, has publicly disagreed with the decision.
“We continue to believe our actions are pro-competitive and meet our responsibility to ensure patient safety and product performance,” the company told Cardiovascular Business in May. “We are carefully reviewing the verdict and evaluating all legal options, including appeal. Johnson & Johnson MedTech remains committed to upholding the highest standards in how we support customers and deliver critical care solutions.”
‘Extremely important’
The Association of Medical Device Reprocessors (AMDR), a global trade group focused on the reprocessing and remanufacturing of commercial medical devices, shared a new statement in support of the proposed injunction. The group also took time to highlight now unsealed evidence from the case.
According to AMDR, the evidence represents proof that Johnson & Johnson MedTech “stifled competition” and “forced hospitals to spend more money.” The group also said Johnson & Johnson MedTech appears to have “executed a strategy to destroy reprocessing programs by choking off supplies.”
“This case is extremely important to the entire medical device reprocessing industry and for healthcare delivery overall,” Dan Vukelich, president and CEO of AMDR, said in the statement. “Beyond just protecting Innovative Health, the proposed permanent injunction would prohibit J&J MedTech from using its platform dominance to shut out reprocessors from the market. AMDR has long documented the misconduct highlighted in this case as serious impediments to fairness in hospital procurement. If imposed, this permanent injunction would be among the most consequential legal action in the 25-year history of regulated reprocessing in the U.S.”
Michael has more than 19 years of experience as a professional writer and editor. He has written at length about cardiology, radiology, artificial intelligence and other key healthcare topics.