Securities Fraud Case Against Guidant Filed by Scott + Scott, LLC to Plead Expanded Insider Trading, Add Defendant and Expand Class Period
Scott + Scott, LLC -
Johnson & Johnson Acquisition of Guidant May Be Delayed With No Promise of Third Quarter Close; British Investigate Significance of Problems
COLCHESTER, Conn., July 28/ -- Scott + Scott, LLC, (http://www.scott-scott.com) which filed the initial securities case in the United States District Court for the Southern District of Indiana against Guidant Corporation (NYSE: GDT) due to its recent equipment failure disasters, will incorporate allegations regarding greater amounts of insider trading and a new Senate inquiry into its complaint against Guidant. Additionally, the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) is making urgent inquiries into the product problems at Guidant and their significance upon United Kingdom patients. The Food and Drug Administration is investigating as well.
If you would like additional information, please contact the firm at 800/332-2259 during office hours. You may also contact attorney Neil Rothstein at nrothstein@scott-scott.com
(or cell phone 619/251-0887) or attorney Amy K. Saba at asaba@scott-scott.com
(800/332-2259). Scott+Scott has offices in Connecticut, Ohio and California. The firm specializes in complex litigation including securities fraud and represents foundations, individuals, corporations and pension funds worldwide.
Earlier this week, Fred McCoy, president of Guidant's Cardiac Rhythm Management division (according to the transcript of an interview conducted by the Star Tribune, a Minneapolis newspaper) called Guidant "A company of startlingly high reliability." McCoy said the company has a "well- developed" quality system and a dedicated group of engineers and scientists who relentlessly pursue improvement. Defibrillators and pacemakers, he said, aspire to a 99% reliability level over the course of several years, and tens of thousands of people are alive today because of these therapies. Yet Scott + Scott’s investigation has yielded information that the Guidant failure rate of 1% is only based upon the number of devices returned for inspection. According to a source, results from internal, unpublished post-market clinical trials show a rate suggesting a failure rate closer to 8%. This is due to the fact that most devices are not returned to Guidant when a patient dies and that the elderly who die rarely undergo an autopsy, facts ignored by the Company in the information provided to the public.
In addition to individual defendants already named in the first Scott lawsuit filed on
June 24, 2005, Peter J. Mariano, Vice President, Corporate Controller and Chief Accounting Officer during the relevant period will be added. Insider trading is now calculated at over $60 million. Further, the class period is being expanded to those who purchased securities in Guidant from July 29, 2004 to June 23, 2005. On July 19, 2005, Johnson & Johnson gave little guidance on the status of its acquisition of Guidant during a conference call. Johnson & Johnson management later said that the scheduled merger with medical-device maker Guidant might be delayed because of issues relating to that company's recent product recalls. The deal is slated to close during the third quarter, but Johnson & Johnson recently said that the recalls may slow that schedule, and no longer promises a third quarter close.
Guidant recently has come under a Senate inquiry and reports of insider trading are surfacing. It was reported that Senator Charles Grassley asked the U.S. Food and Drug Administration ("FDA") to examine the safety of implantable heart defibrillators, purportedly in response to the New England Journal of Medicine's article that Guidant continued to sell a defective product even after serious malfunctions were reported. Scott + Scott, LLC’s independent investigation of this matter is ongoing and the possibility of additional information is likely.
Moreover, the Wall Street Journal has reported that the chief medical officer of Guidant sold more than $3 million of her shares in May, just prior to the Company's announcement to doctors of malfunctions in their defibrillators. The article reported that Beverly Lorell, chief technical and medical officer, sold 23,300 shares on May 17 and 22,667 shares on May 23 for a total of $3.39 million. Her stock was sold in the range from $73.55 to $74.00. Other Company executives sold shares of Guidant as well while in possession of information unknown to the investing public.
On June 16, 2005, Guidant recalled 50,000 faulty defibrillators due to malfunctions in six different devices. Then, on June 24, Guidant recalled an additional five devices. On July 18, Guidant further warned as to the safety of nine pacemaker devices produced and/or implanted from 1997 to 2000. The Company reports that as many as 28,000 additional devices must be recalled. Johnson & Johnson management stated that its impending merger with Guidant may be delayed due to these massive recalls and FDA involvement.
The pending securities fraud actions are on behalf of investors who purchased Guidant securities between December 10, 2004 and January 23, 2005 and will soon extend back to July 29, 2004. Scott + Scott cautions, however, that the class period could extend back to 2001, and therefore, all purchasers of Guidant securities are welcome to inquire regarding Scott + Scott's action against Guidant. Additionally, many people with implanted Guidant devices have contacted the firm. Any person or a decedent's survivor affected by an implanted Guidant device may contact Scott + Scott directly.
If you purchased Guidant securities between July 29, 2004, and January 23, 2005, or at any other time and have questions, please contact Scott + Scott to learn your legal rights, to discuss the matter with an attorney and to discover the many advantages of Scott + Scott's representation. There is no charge or cost.
Other cases recently filed and/or under investigation include: Possis Medical, Tempur-Pedic International, Dreamworks Animation, Reinsurance Corporation of America, Unisys, Harley-Davidson Employee Plan Participants and more.
Johnson & Johnson Acquisition of Guidant May Be Delayed With No Promise of Third Quarter Close; British Investigate Significance of Problems
COLCHESTER, Conn., July 28/ -- Scott + Scott, LLC, (http://www.scott-scott.com) which filed the initial securities case in the United States District Court for the Southern District of Indiana against Guidant Corporation (NYSE: GDT) due to its recent equipment failure disasters, will incorporate allegations regarding greater amounts of insider trading and a new Senate inquiry into its complaint against Guidant. Additionally, the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) is making urgent inquiries into the product problems at Guidant and their significance upon United Kingdom patients. The Food and Drug Administration is investigating as well.
If you would like additional information, please contact the firm at 800/332-2259 during office hours. You may also contact attorney Neil Rothstein at nrothstein@scott-scott.com
(or cell phone 619/251-0887) or attorney Amy K. Saba at asaba@scott-scott.com
(800/332-2259). Scott+Scott has offices in Connecticut, Ohio and California. The firm specializes in complex litigation including securities fraud and represents foundations, individuals, corporations and pension funds worldwide.
Earlier this week, Fred McCoy, president of Guidant's Cardiac Rhythm Management division (according to the transcript of an interview conducted by the Star Tribune, a Minneapolis newspaper) called Guidant "A company of startlingly high reliability." McCoy said the company has a "well- developed" quality system and a dedicated group of engineers and scientists who relentlessly pursue improvement. Defibrillators and pacemakers, he said, aspire to a 99% reliability level over the course of several years, and tens of thousands of people are alive today because of these therapies. Yet Scott + Scott’s investigation has yielded information that the Guidant failure rate of 1% is only based upon the number of devices returned for inspection. According to a source, results from internal, unpublished post-market clinical trials show a rate suggesting a failure rate closer to 8%. This is due to the fact that most devices are not returned to Guidant when a patient dies and that the elderly who die rarely undergo an autopsy, facts ignored by the Company in the information provided to the public.
In addition to individual defendants already named in the first Scott lawsuit filed on
June 24, 2005, Peter J. Mariano, Vice President, Corporate Controller and Chief Accounting Officer during the relevant period will be added. Insider trading is now calculated at over $60 million. Further, the class period is being expanded to those who purchased securities in Guidant from July 29, 2004 to June 23, 2005. On July 19, 2005, Johnson & Johnson gave little guidance on the status of its acquisition of Guidant during a conference call. Johnson & Johnson management later said that the scheduled merger with medical-device maker Guidant might be delayed because of issues relating to that company's recent product recalls. The deal is slated to close during the third quarter, but Johnson & Johnson recently said that the recalls may slow that schedule, and no longer promises a third quarter close.
Guidant recently has come under a Senate inquiry and reports of insider trading are surfacing. It was reported that Senator Charles Grassley asked the U.S. Food and Drug Administration ("FDA") to examine the safety of implantable heart defibrillators, purportedly in response to the New England Journal of Medicine's article that Guidant continued to sell a defective product even after serious malfunctions were reported. Scott + Scott, LLC’s independent investigation of this matter is ongoing and the possibility of additional information is likely.
Moreover, the Wall Street Journal has reported that the chief medical officer of Guidant sold more than $3 million of her shares in May, just prior to the Company's announcement to doctors of malfunctions in their defibrillators. The article reported that Beverly Lorell, chief technical and medical officer, sold 23,300 shares on May 17 and 22,667 shares on May 23 for a total of $3.39 million. Her stock was sold in the range from $73.55 to $74.00. Other Company executives sold shares of Guidant as well while in possession of information unknown to the investing public.
On June 16, 2005, Guidant recalled 50,000 faulty defibrillators due to malfunctions in six different devices. Then, on June 24, Guidant recalled an additional five devices. On July 18, Guidant further warned as to the safety of nine pacemaker devices produced and/or implanted from 1997 to 2000. The Company reports that as many as 28,000 additional devices must be recalled. Johnson & Johnson management stated that its impending merger with Guidant may be delayed due to these massive recalls and FDA involvement.
The pending securities fraud actions are on behalf of investors who purchased Guidant securities between December 10, 2004 and January 23, 2005 and will soon extend back to July 29, 2004. Scott + Scott cautions, however, that the class period could extend back to 2001, and therefore, all purchasers of Guidant securities are welcome to inquire regarding Scott + Scott's action against Guidant. Additionally, many people with implanted Guidant devices have contacted the firm. Any person or a decedent's survivor affected by an implanted Guidant device may contact Scott + Scott directly.
If you purchased Guidant securities between July 29, 2004, and January 23, 2005, or at any other time and have questions, please contact Scott + Scott to learn your legal rights, to discuss the matter with an attorney and to discover the many advantages of Scott + Scott's representation. There is no charge or cost.
Other cases recently filed and/or under investigation include: Possis Medical, Tempur-Pedic International, Dreamworks Animation, Reinsurance Corporation of America, Unisys, Harley-Davidson Employee Plan Participants and more.
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