Boston Scientific Corp. said it will pay almost $17 million to settle investigations by 35 states and the District of Columbia into the marketing of defective cardiac defibrillators by its Guidant Corp. unit.
The settlement resolves state probes into whether Guidant officials hid defects in the implantable devices, which are designed to help users with malfunctioning hearts.
Boston Scientific admitted no liability in the settlements, company officials said in a statement.
Boston Scientific officials agreed in July to pay $195 million to resolve lawsuits filed by defibrillator patients.
“Boston Scientific has been working cooperatively with the state attorneys general and is pleased to have reached an amicable agreement,” said Jim Tobin, president and CEO of Boston Scientific of Natick, Mass. (NYSE: BSX).
Boston Scientific bought Guidant in 2006 after a pitched bidding war with rival suitor Johnson & Johnson.
Boston Scientific employs about 780 people at a catheter manufacturing plant in Glens Falls.
