Synthes guilty pleas
This article was originally published in The Gray Sheet
Executive Summary
Former Synthes CEO Michael Huggins and the company's current Director of Clinical and Regulatory Affairs John Walsh pled guilty in a Philadelphia federal court July 20 to one misdemeanor count of shipping adulterated and misbranded Norian XR bone cement product in interstate commerce. The execs were indicted June 16 as part of a broader case against Synthes and its Norian subsidiary (1"The Gray Sheet" June 22, 2009). Huggins and Walsh could each face up to a year in prison and a $100,000 fine. They are scheduled to be sentenced Oct. 22. Two other executives, Thomas Higgins, senior VP of global strategy, and Richard Bohner, VP of operations, also were indicted and await trial, according to the Philadelphia U.S. Attorney's office