Boston Scientific to settle claims

Boston Scientific Corp. said it had agreed to pay $195 million to settle about 4,000 claims involving heart defibrillators and pacemakers made by Guidant Corp., which it acquired last year.

The company said in a statement that the agreement was reached during mediation sessions with U.S. Magistrate Judge Arthur J. Boylan in Minneapolis.

The claims were consolidated in federal court in Minneapolis, with the first trial due to start July 30. Boston Scientific said the agreement also included an unspecified number of other similar claims from across the country, but not all of them.

Boston Scientific, which acquired Guidant in April 2006, faced about 1,430 lawsuits stemming from recalls and warnings involving Guidant’s implantable defibrillators and pacemakers. It had set aside $732 million to cover expenses in the cases as of March 31, it said in a filing.

Since June 2005, Guidant has issued safety warnings or recalled more than 88,000 defibrillators and has recalled or issued warnings on about 200,000 pacemakers. The company was criticized for dragging its feet in notifying doctors, patients and regulators about the problems.