October 15, 2014 by Val Kennedy
A federal judge green-lights a shareholders lawsuit over its Infuse bone-growth protein that accuses Medtronic and its management, including former CEO William Hawkins, of misleading investors about Infuse’s safety risks and commercial upside.
A federal judge in Minneapolis has green-lighted a shareholder suit over Medtronic‘s (NYSE:MDT) handling of its Infuse bone-growth product.
Although he tossed some claims, Judge John Tunheim ruled that the suit can proceed against Medtronic and several of its top executives, including former chairman & CEO William Hawkins, CFO Gary Ellis and CSO Dr. Richard Kuntz. The plaintiffs include institutional investors West Virginia Pipe Trades Health & Welfare Fund, Union Asset Management Holding AG and Employees’ Retirement System of Hawaii.
The suit alleges that Medtronic executives misled investors about Infuse’s commercial prospects and safety profile; the complaint also alleges that Hawkins misled analysts about the prospects of a planned follow-on product called Amplify.
