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| Masimo's Pronto-7 monitoring device--Courtesy of Masimo |
Federal investigators are looking into two of Masimo's patient-monitoring devices, the company said, products that were once the subject of a whisteblower lawsuit.
The U.S. Attorney's Office handed Masimo ($MASI) a grand jury subpoena, asking for documents related to Pronto and Pronto-7, two bedside devices used to spot-check patients' hemoglobin, pulse and other vital signs. Masimo said some of its current and former employees received subpoenas of their own, and the feds expect to dish out more as their investigation progresses. The company said it is cooperating in full.
The particulars of the investigation remain unknown, but Pronto and its next-gen relative were tied to a 2010 whistleblower lawsuit in which three Masimo sales reps claimed the company misrepresented the devices and submitted falsified billings to Medicare. A California judge came down in Masimo's favor in October, ruling that while the company was aware of anecdotal problems with Pronto, it didn't knowingly mislead anyone.
Masimo has charted steady growth thanks to an expanding share of the oximetry market, last year boosting revenue 11% to $547.2 million.
- here's Masimo's disclosure