Guidant to appear in federal court for sentencing
Court Alerts
Boston Scientific Corp.'s Guidant unit hopes to end a criminal case accusing it of failing to properly disclose changes made to some implantable heart devices when it appears in court Wednesday.
Guidant pleaded guilty last spring, but U.S. District Judge Donovan Frank rejected the deal because it didn't call for probation. Instead, the company agreed to pay $296 million in fines and forfeiture fees in what prosecutors said was the largest criminal penalty against a medical device company.
Guidant is accused of falsely reporting a change it made to one device in 2002 and failing to report a change it made to another in 2005 — leaving doctors and patients unaware of potentially dangerous problems. The company pleaded guilty to two misdemeanors: submitting a false and misleading report to the Federal Drug Administration about one defibrillator model and failing to notify regulators about a safety correction to another line of devices.
In rejecting the deal, Frank asked for more information about the company's compliance programs and community service. His options Wednesday include approving the agreement, imposing a different fine or requiring more supervision of the company.
In a document filed last week, defense attorney Daniel Scott wrote that Guidant had improved its compliance policies since 2005 and upgraded them further after Indianapolis-based Guidant was acquired by Natick, Mass.-based Boston Scientific in 2006.
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Grounds for Divorce in Ohio - Sylkatis Law, LLC
A divorce in Ohio is filed when there is typically “fault” by one of the parties and party not at “fault” seeks to end the marriage. A court in Ohio may grant a divorce for the following reasons:
• Willful absence of the adverse party for one year
• Adultery
• Extreme cruelty
• Fraudulent contract
• Any gross neglect of duty
• Habitual drunkenness
• Imprisonment in a correctional institution at the time of filing the complaint
• Procurement of a divorce outside this state by the other party
Additionally, there are two “no-fault” basis for which a court may grant a divorce:
• When the parties have, without interruption for one year, lived separate and apart without cohabitation
• Incompatibility, unless denied by either party
However, whether or not the the court grants the divorce for “fault” or not, in Ohio the party not at “fault” will not get a bigger slice of the marital property.