Medtronic Whistleblower Suit Won't Go Away Easily
BY DAVID KRESSEL, AUGUST 2, 2006
As we reported last week, Medtronic settled its whistleblower law suit with the DOJ. One condition of this settlement was that the DOJ would move to have a second similar whistleblower suit dismissed. Now, the lawyer representing the second plaintiff has challenged the settlement, calling it "woefully inadequate."
This appears to be an attempt by the second plaintiff and her lawyer to collect a piece of the settlement. In its current form, the DOJ will split the settlement with the plaintiff, with maybe 15%-20% going to the the first plaintiff. However, since the second suit is considered a copycat suit by the government and Medtronic, it was to be dismissed and the second plaintiff would therefore receive no money. It is very clear why this lawyer, likely paid on a contingency basis, would press to have the settlement thrown out.
