Medical-device suits allege kickbacks

Former employees of several medical-device makers allege in lawsuits unsealed in a Texas federal court that the companies paid kickbacks to heart surgeons to get the doctors to use their products to treat atrial fibrillation. The lawsuits, filed in federal district court in Houston, name at least four companies whose products are among those used in surgery to treat the heart condition: AtriCure Inc., Medtronic Inc., St. Jude Medical Inc. and Boston Scientific Corp.