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JOHNSON & JOHNSON MEDICAL, INC. AGREES TO PAY U.S. $3.9 MILLION

WASHINGTON, D.C. A government contractor will pay the United States $3.9 million to settle civil claims that it overcharged the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), the Department of Justice announced today.

The settlement resolves allegations that Johnson & Johnson Medical, Inc. (JJMI), failed to provide accurate pricing information to VA negotiators on a contract for the purchase of medical supplies, and that, as a result, the VA was overcharged. The overcharging was brought to the attention of the government by JJMI under the VA's voluntary disclosure program.

JJMI informed the VA that the company's contracting personnel failed to provide agency with accurate information about Johnson & Johnson's commercial pricing practices for certain supplies such as catheters. JJMI was required by law to disclose fully and accurately its pricing practices to the government.

The Veterans Affairs Office of Inspector General (OIG) investigated the case and confirmed that the government had been overcharged. The Justice Department?s Civil Division and the Office of the U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of California negotiated the settlement with JJMI.

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