St. Jude Medical, a healthcare products manufacturer based in Roswell, Georgia, continues to face issues over its Durata leads. Over the past year, the company has sparked the ire of analysts, regulators and business partners. One of the newest groups to take issue with the company’s practices is a Massachusetts pension firm. According to the lawsuit from the Massachusetts group, St. Jude Medical hid information about safety concerns regarding Durata leads.

In November of this year, the United States Food and Drug Administration chided the company over its Durata manufacturing and testing practices. The new lawsuit claims that the company illegally hid Durata flaws that led to the recall of the device’s predecessor, the Riata.

According to a report from Bloomberg News, the new lawsuit seeks unspecified damages. Investors who purchased stock in the company between October 19th, 2001 and November 20th, 2012 are welcome to join the lawsuit.

A representative at St. Jude Medical shared comments on the case with Bloomberg. In prepared remarks, the representative stated that all claims are meritless. The representative also claimed that St. Jude would fight the lawsuit.

At this point in the case, the potential monetary damages in the lawsuit are a minor concern for St. Jude. With all the bad news over its Durata leads in the past few months, the new lawsuit simply adds more fuel to the fire in growing public discontent over the company’s actions. While the company marketed its new Durata leads with a reformulated insulation as safe, the company has faced the ire of the FDA, concerns of product shelf life and dire predictions from analysts of an upcoming recall.

References

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-12-12/st-jude-medical-sued-over-durat...