Businessweek

CR Bard Inc. has agreed to pay the federal government $48.2 million to settle a whistleblower lawsuit that alleges its urological division and wholly owned subsidiary, ProSeed Inc., paid doctors and hospitals kickbacks to entice them to order Bard's products at inflated prices to treat Medicare patients with prostate cancer. Bard and ProSeed, based in Covington, Georgia, sold radioactive seeds used for brachytherapy, a treatment for prostate cancer. The seeds are permanently implanted in the prostate to deliver a prescribed dose of radiation directly to the cancer cells. The qui tam lawsuit alleged that from 1998 to 2006 Bard inflated the costs of the seeds sold to treat Medicare patients, using a portion of its excess profits to pay for kickbacks. By paying kickbacks, Bard caused false and inflated claims to be submitted to Medicare, which is a violation of the False Claims Act.

CR Bard Inc. Presents at MedTech Investing Conference, May-08-2013 04:35 PM. Venue: Graves 601 Hotel, 601 First Avenue North, Minneapolis, MN 55401, United States. Speakers: Luke Harada, Vice President, Business Development.

The defective medical device lawyers at Alonso Krangle have filed a Bard G2(R) IVC Filter lawsuit against CR Bard Inc. and Bard Peripheral Vascular, Inc. This case (case no. 2:13-cv-02281-LDW-AKT) was filed on April 16, 2013 in the U.S. District Court, Eastern District of New York. According to the Bard IVC Filter Lawsuit, this case alleges that Bard's G2(R) Filter was defective and that these defects caused the device's components to break off inside of the plaintiff, causing her to sustain severe and some permanent internal injuries. Additionally, this Bard IVC Filter lawsuit contends that Bard was aware of the dangers of the G2(R) Filter and, nevertheless, marketed this device as safe and effective without providing any warning about its potential dangers to the public. The court documents in the Bard IVC Filter lawsuit, the plaintiff underwent surgery in May 2009 to have the Bard G2(R) Filter implanted to treat her blood clots and prevent possible pulmonary embolism. The Bard G2 Filter is the second generation of the Bard Recovery(R) Filter, both of which are spider-like devices intended to stop or catch blood clots that may be passing through the inferior venacava (IVC, one of the body's major veins); these filter devices are typically only implanted in patients who are unable to take anticoagulant medications or who have had no success in reducing blood clots after taking these medications. The Bard IVC Filter lawsuit complaint goes on to allege that, following implantation of the G2 Filter, the filter failed, with its components breaking off, perforating the plaintiff's IVC and migrating to other parts of her body. As a result of the G2 Filter failure, the plaintiff sustained serious injuries and damage to her internal organs. The failure of the Bard G2 Filter has reportedly caused the plaintiff to incur significant medical expenses and to have endured disabilities, mental anguish and excessive physical pain and suffering, all of which have negatively impacted her quality of life.

CR Bard Inc. reported unaudited consolidated earnings results for the first quarter ended March 31, 2013. For the quarter, the company reported net sales of $740,300,000 compared to $730,000,000 a year ago. Income from operations before income taxes was $127,600,000 compared to $191,400,000 a year ago. Net income was $90,700,000 or $1.08 diluted per share compared to $138,700,000 or $1.60 diluted per share a year ago. Earnings per share on adjusted basis were $1.44 per diluted share compared to $1.61 per diluted share a year ago. Capital expenditures totaled $13.2 million for the quarter.

The Board of Directors of C. R. Bard Inc. declared a regular quarterly dividend of 20 cents per share on Bard's common stock. The current indicated annual dividend rate is 80 cents per share. The dividend is payable on May 10, 2013 to shareholders of record at the close of business on April 29, 2013.