Medtronic Inc

Heart device maker Medtronic Inc. has agreed to pay more than $75 million to settle lawsuits claiming it hid defects in its defibrillators, people with direct knowledge of the accord said. The settlement will resolve about 2,000 claims over battery defects in Medtronic's implantable defibrillators, which automatically send electric jolts to correct heart rhythms that are potentially fatal.

Medtronic Inc. warned doctors Monday that the wires connecting a patient's heart to the firm's implantable defibrillators break too often. The news knocked Medtronic shares down $6.33 or 11.2% to $50. Medtronic told doctors to stop using the Sprint Fidelis wires after linking five deaths to breaks in them. The company said the Fidelis wires failed slightly more often than the thicker wires they were meant to replace. The problem does not affect Medtronic pacemakers.

Medtronic Inc. has agreed to pay about $130 million to settle claims that it hid defects in heart defibrillators, adding $55 million to an amount proposed in July, three people with direct knowledge of the deal said. The extra money will allow Medtronic to resolve about 2,600 claims, 600 more than were envisioned in the $75-million initial settlement, the people said. The company agreed to the higher amount last month after more claims were filed over the devices than expected, the people said.

Edwards Lifesciences Corp. said it agreed to settle a patent dispute with Medtronic Inc. and Medtronic Vascular Inc. over grafts used to treat various aneurysms. Irvine-based Edwards said that in exchange for a payment of $37.5 million to Edwards and Australia-based Endogad Research Party Ltd., Medtronic had been granted nonexclusive licenses to the patents involved in the litigation and related patents.

A whistle-blower lawsuit alleges medical device maker Medtronic Inc. improperly paid millions of dollars to more than a dozen doctors nationwide, prompting them to perform unnecessary spinal surgeries and otherwise affecting their judgment. One surgeon was allegedly paid $400,000 for eight days of consulting per year. Another surgeon received $1.39 million from 2001 through May 2005, according to a lawsuit filed by Jacqueline Kay Poteet, a former employee of subsidiary Medtronic Sofamor Danek.

Medical device maker Medtronic Inc. said Thursday that U.S. regulators had approved a system for diabetics that continually monitors blood-sugar levels and recommends insulin doses to control them. The device, approved by the Food and Drug Administration, relays blood-glucose readings every five minutes from a sensor inserted under the skin to a pager-size pump, the Minneapolis-based company said.

A judge overseeing scores of lawsuits accusing Medtronic Inc. of selling defective heart devices ordered Milberg Weiss Bershad & Schulman, the law firm representing some of the plaintiffs, removed from a leadership role in the case. U.S.

Medtronic Inc., the world's largest maker of electronic heart-rhythm implants, agreed to pay $40 million to settle civil claims that its Sofamor Danek unit paid kickbacks to get doctors to use the company's spinal products. The U.S. government alleged that Minneapolis-based Medtronic paid kickbacks in the form of sham consulting deals and royalties, as well as lavish trips.