Device makers implant lots of money with hip, knee surgeons

After a settlement with the U.S. Justice Department, five companies that make orthopedic joint implant devices increased their payments to doctors, though they reduced the number of physicians and made more payments to surgeons at academic institutions, according to a new study. The study, published in the Archives of Internal Medicine, involved payments to surgeons by Biomet Orthopedics, DePuy Orthopaedics, Smith & Nephew, Stryker Orthopaedics and Zimmer. In 2007, the companies made 1,041 payments totaling more than $198 million to 939 surgeons.