J&J Unit Accused of Tying Catheters to Cardiac Mapping System

A Johnson & Johnson subsidiary was hit with a lawsuit in the Central District of California claiming it’s leveraging its cardiac mapping technology monopoly to prevent “reprocessing” of the single-use catheters that make it work.

Biosense Webster Inc., with its CARTO 3 machine, has a greater than 50% share of the market for the mapping systems, according to the complaint. The machines, which cost $400,000 to $500,000, are used in electrophysiology studies and procedures to correct heart arrhythmias. There are about 3,000 of them nationwide, and Biosense’s allegedly only work with its own mapping and ultrasound catheters, which sell for ...