In the last month, Becker's reported on three lawsuits involving spine and orthopedic device companies in the last month.
Here's what you should know:
1. A federal judge on Jan. 24 rejected Johnson & Johnson and subsidiary DePuy Orthopaedics' bid to make two orthopedic surgeons pay $2.4 million after their whistleblower case related to the company's Pinnacle hip implant portfolio was tossed. Johnson & Johnson was awarded reimbursement for some expenses related to the case, but the judge ruled that ordering U.K.-based Drs. Antoni Nargol and David Langton to pay the devicemaker's attorney fees "as an additional punishment would be excessive," according to court documents.
2. A federal judge in Delaware has sided with a prominent spine surgeon-inventor in a patent infringement lawsuit filed against SeaSpine, an implant manufacturer. Mark Barry, MD, a Las Vegas-based pediatric orthopedic and scoliosis surgeon, alleged in a lawsuit that SeaSpine sells spinal alignment devices that infringe his patents.
3. Globus Medical has accused Medtronic of recruiting its San Antonio sales team to steal customers from the company and strengthen its position in the spine market. Defendants in the lawsuit, filed Jan. 28 in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania, include former Globus Medical sales executives and Edward Sharp, a former spine territory manager of Globus Medical. Globus Medical alleged that Medtronic "induced [Mr. Sharp] with huge financial incentives to solicit his San Antonio sales team and convert his Globus customers" and claims that four former employees are "carrying out a long-planned conspiracy to illegally steal Globus' business for themselves," according to court documents.