Boston Scientific Settles Case of Defective Stent Systems

The Boston Globe reported that Boston Scientific has settled a suit brought by the US Department of Justice that alleged "a failure by Boston Scientific to take the most appropriate steps in a timely manner to ensure that the devices it was distributing to hospitals nationwide performed properly," per US Attorney Michael J. Sullivan.
Boston Scientific began shipping Nir coronary artery stent systems on August 12, 1998. Coronary artery stents are small devices, often shaped like springs, or wire mesh cylinders, used to hold coronary arteries open. According to the Globe, within five days, Boston Scientific got reports that the balloons attached to the stent catheters were failing when inflated to pressures lower than they were designed to handle. In a September 12, 1998 conference with US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) officials, one said that the FDA was "very uncomfortable" with continuing stent shipments." However, Boston Scientific continued shipping the stents until October 5, 1998, and then began a voluntary recall. The FDA finally received 25 complaints that injuries were caused by failed stent balloons.
The settlement called for Boston Scientific to pay $74 million. Department of Justice officials chose that amount since it significantly exceeded the $61 million revenue the company received from the 34,589 Nir stent systems it sold (i.e., $1764 per system.)
This case, which took almost seven years to resolve, could be compared with the recent case of problems with Guidant implantable coronary defibrillators (ICDs). (See most recent of many posts on Guidant here.) In both cases, the companies appeared to delay notification of device defects, leading to more potentially defective devices to be shipped and implanted in patients. In both cases, the devices seem relatively expensive compared to the complexity of their engineering and manufacturing. (For example, the stents mentioned above are again simple metal devices shaped link springs or mesh cylinders, and the accompanying system consists mainly of a plastic catheter with an inflatable balloon at its tip, sold for, as noted above, more than $1700.) Given how much money the companies charge for these devices, one would think they would be able to afford exemplary quality control, and a system to rapidly notify physicians who implant the devices of any potential problems.