Tag: Medical Equipment and Devices

The Federal Trade Commission required Medtronic, Inc. to divest a key subsidiary of Intersect ENT, Inc. as a condition of acquiring Intersect. Under the FTC consent decree, Instersect’s Fiagon subsidiary, which makes ear, nose, and throat navigation systems and balloon sinus dilation products, will be sold to Hemostasis, LLC. According to the complaint, without this divestiture, the acquisition would pose a threat to future competition in the United States for both ENT navigation systems and balloon sinus dilation products.

Medical device company Boston Scientific Corp. agreed to divest certain assets to Varian Medical Systems to settle Federal Trade Commission charges that Boston Scientific’s proposed $4.2 billion acquisition of medical equipment and pharmaceutical supplier BTG plc would violate federal antitrust law. According to the complaint, Boston Scientific’s acquisition of BTG would harm consumers in the U.S. market for drug eluting beads, or DEBs, which are microscopic beads used to treat certain liver cancers. Interventional radiologists use DEBs, combined with chemotherapy drugs, in a procedure called transarterial chemoembolization. Under the proposed settlement agreement, Boston Scientific was required to divest to Varian its DEB business, as well as its bland bead product line. Bland beads are used in another type of procedure to block the flow of blood to a liver tumor. On Feb. 18, 2022, the Commission announced modifications to the divestiture agreement with Boston Scientific Corp.

The Federal Trade Commission required medical device companies Stryker Corp. and Wright Medical Group N.V. to divest all assets related to Stryker’s total ankle replacements and finger joint implant products to remedy concerns, as alleged in the complaint, that Stryker’s proposed $4 billion acquisition of Wright would harm competition in these two markets. Under the consent order, Stryker and Wright must divest all assets associated with Stryker’s total ankle replacements and finger joint implants to DJO Global, allowing it to become an independent, viable, and effective competitor in these markets.  After a period for public comment, the Commission issued its final order on December 11, 2020.

In June 2020, the marketers of a low-level light therapy device (LLLT) called Willow Curve agreed to stop making allegedly deceptive claims that the device treats chronic, severe pain and associated inflammation, under a settlement with the FTC. 

In a complaint filed in federal court the FTC alleged that the marketers of Willow Curve promoted the device nationwide since 2014, touting it as a “smart” device that is “clinically proven,” even though they lack scientific evidence to support these claims. The order settling the complaint also requires two defendants to pay $200,000 each to the Commission. In August 2021, the FTC sent refunds totaling more than $350,000 to defrauded consumers.

Össur Hf and College Park Industries, Inc., both makers of prosthetic limbs, have agreed to divest College Park’s myoelectric elbow business to settle Federal Trade Commission charges that Össur’s proposed acquisition of College Park would violate federal antitrust law.