Johnson & Johnson Unit’s Plant Searched

Johnson & Johnson Co.’s LifeScan plant in Milpitas, Calif., was searched by investigators for the Justice Department and the Food and Drug Administration for evidence of possible criminal violations, the company and a law enforcement official said. The U.S. attorney’s office in San Francisco obtained search warrants to investigate LifeScan for problems with two of its devices, SureStep and SureStep Pro, used to monitor the blood-sugar level of diabetic patients, said Stephen Shefler, chief assistant U.S. attorney in San Francisco. Models made before July 1997 may be giving false low readings of glucose levels, an FDA spokesman said. Shefler declined to comment on specifics of the search. Johnson & Johnson spokesman Jeff Leebaw said the company had turned over some information to investigators and would cooperate with their investigation.