Medtronic Inc. Case 12/10/2008

August 13, 2012 (Update) -- Proposed $85 million settlement.

According to the Notice:

Description of the Action and Class: This Notice relates to a proposed Settlement of claims in a pending class action lawsuit brought by investors alleging that the price of Medtronic common stock was artificially inflated during the Class Period as a result of alleged material false statements and omissions by Defendant Medtronic and the Individual Defendants Arthur D. Collins, Jr., William A. Hawkins, and Gary L. Ellis (together with Medtronic, the “Defendants”) during the Class Period concerning one of Medtronic’s medical products, the INFUSE® bone graft system. The proposed Settlement, if approved by the Court, will settle claims of all persons and entities who purchased or otherwise acquired Medtronic common stock during the Class Period (i.e., from November 20, 2006 through and including November 17, 2008), and who were damaged thereby (the “Class”), except for certain persons and entities who are excluded from the Class by definition (see ¶ 22 below) or who validly elect to exclude themselves from the Class (see ¶¶ 71‐73 below).

December 10, 2008 -- On Wednesday, December 10, 2008, a shareholder of Medtronic, Inc. (NYSE: MDT) has filed a proposed class action lawsuit in the United States District Court for the District of Minnesota on behalf all investors in the securities of Medtronic, Inc. during the period from November 19, 2007 through November 17, 2008.
 
According to the complaint the plaintiff alleges that between November 19, 2007, and November 17, 2008, Medtronic, Inc. (NYSE: MDT; “Medtronic”) , its Chief Executive Officer and Chief Financial Officer violated the federal securities laws by issuing false and misleading press releases, financial statements, filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission and statements during investor conference calls. Specifically the Complaint alleges that between November 19, 2007, and November 17, 2008, Medtronic made allegedly repeated false statements to the investing public concerning one of its flagship products, the INFUSE Bone Graft, representing to investors that it was a valuable and reliable source of revenues for Medtronic. INFUSE Bone Graft is a surgically-implanted medical device containing a genetically engineered protein designed to stimulate bone growth. The stockholder alleges that the statements made by the defendants were materially false and misleading because they concealed and failed to disclose material facts known to or recklessly ignored by them about INFUSE Bone Graft. In particular, so the complaint, they did not disclose the extent to which revenues from sales of INFUSE Bone Graft were dependent on applications of the product not approved by the United States Food and Drug Administration, or so-called “off-label” uses; did not disclose that a significant and increasing number of patients subjected to such off-label uses of INFUSE were suffering severe medical complications; and hid the fact that the extensive off-label usage of INFUSE was the result of an unlawful campaign by defendants to market and encourage off-label use of the product. Defendants’ false and misleading statements concerning INFUSE and the Company’s financial condition artificially inflated the price of the Medtronic’s publicly traded securities between November 19, 2007, and November 17, 2008 and as direct result of these revelations the prices of Medtronic securities experienced severe declines, so the lawsuit.