St. Jude Medical to pay $27 million to settle allegations over heart devices

[July 09, 2021]  WASHINGTON (Reuters) -St. Jude Medical, which was acquired by Abbott Laboratories in 2017, has agreed to pay $27 million to settle allegations it knowingly sold defective heart devices, the U.S. Justice Department said on Thursday.

It said St. Jude allegedly failed to disclose serious adverse health events in connection with premature battery depletion in certain models of its implantable defibrillators that were sold between November 2014 and October 2016.

"This relates to a matter that took place prior to Abbott’s acquisition of St. Jude Medical," Abbott said in a statement.

(Reporting by Eric Beech in Washington; editing by Diane CraftEditing by Mohammad Zargham and Matthew Lewis)

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