Stryker Pays $15M Fine in a DOJ Settlement After Unapproved OP-1 Clinical Study
OP-1 Prosecutions Down To One (Walter Eisner @ OTW)
The Boston Globe reported on January 20 that prosecutors dropped felony conspiracy and fraud charges against two remaining Stryker Biotech OP-1 sales reps on trial in Boston.
Judge George O'Toole, Jr. of the U.S. District Court for Massachusetts agreed to dismiss all criminal charges against Jeff Whitaker and William Heppner. Charges against a third rep, David Ard, had been dropped earlier during the trial when the company agreed to plead guilty to a minor misdemeanor crime of misbranding a product and paid a $15 million fine.
The company had faced 13 felony charges.
Brandy Donini-Melanson, a spokeswoman for the U.S. attorney’s office, said in a statement that prosecutors agreed to drop the charges “in the best interests of justice."
“These were fraud charges that never should have been brought," said Robert Ullmann of Boston, who represented Heppner.
The Globe reported that defense lawyers and legal observers said they could not offer a single reason why the government ultimately decided to drop the case, only that it was clear that the government ...
