Medtronic Must Face Whistleblower’s Spine Device Fraud Claim (1)

Medtronic Inc. must defend against a whistleblower’s claim it violated the False Claims Act by misleading the Food and Drug Administration as to the proper use of its spinal fusion devices used in surgery, the Ninth Circuit said.

Dan Abrams Co. LLC adequately alleged that Medtronic defrauded the FDA by falsely stating in an application that its devices could be used on the spine below the neck area, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit said in a nonprecedential decision partially reviving the suit.

This portion of the suit satisfied the FCA’s materiality requirement because proper device use ...