5. Boston Scientific appears on 60 Minutes covering pelvic mesh MDL
Outside the rumored Stryker acquisition, Boston Scientific found itself in the news as part of a CBS 60 Minutes segment on gynecological pelvic mesh implants which are the source of a massive multi-district litigation.
The report included claims that the company knowingly purchased inauthentic Chinese plastic materials for production and tried to cover up the faulty plastics.
The Marlborough, Mass.-based company declined an interview with 60 Minutes, which focused on the devices and the 48,000 suits Boston Scientific faces over the allegedly harmful meshes.
The FDA investigated the change in plastic, but wrote that it “did not find any indication that the change in [plastic] resin led to an increase in adverse events. We have confidence in our […] findings,” according to 60 Minutes.
Boston Scientfic said that the story included “completely false claims,” and defended that the resin it uses in its current transvaginal mesh products “matches a formulation from the original U.S. produced resin.”
“We believe that this story was irresponsible and misleading. We provided the show with a statement and are disappointed that our perspective, and those of medical societies and the healthcare community, were not fully reflected in the broadcast,” Boston Scientific wrote in its response.