ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Friday, August 9, 1996 TAG: 9608090044
SECTION: BUSINESS PAGE: A-11 EDITION: METRO
DATELINE: BOSTON
SOURCE: Associated Press
Three former executives of a medical device manufacturer got 18 months in prison Thursday for selling faulty artery-clearing catheters that were blamed for two deaths.
U.S. District Judge Joseph Tauro handed the maximum sentences to David Prigmore, former executive vice president of C.R. Bard Inc.; John Cvinar, a former division president; and Lee Leichter, a former vice president.
The three men were convicted in 1995 of selling medical devices unapproved by the Food and Drug Administration and conspiring to hide potentially deadly flaws that blocked blood flow to patients' hearts.
In 1993, the company agreed to pay $61 million in criminal and civil penalties. Prosecutors have called the case one of the largest health care frauds in U.S. history.
In asking for the tough sentences Thursday, Assistant U.S. Attorney Michael Loucks called the case ``one of evil people doing evil things to innocent people for money.''
The judge, however, refused the prosecution's request to impose fines of $30,000 on each defendant. On Wednesday, he rejected a prosecution request to impose more than the maximum sentences, saying it is unclear whether the deaths were caused by the defendants' criminal conduct.
Tauro agreed to delay imposition of the sentences pending the defendants' appeals.
The government alleged that the executives produced and allowed the sale of as many as 20,000 defective catheters between 1987 and 1990.
The catheters are thin, flexible, hollow tubes that a doctor snakes through arteries to an area in the heart that is partly blocked by fatty deposits called plaque. The catheter has a balloon-like tip that is inflated to squeeze the plaque against the artery wall, restoring proper blood flow and preventing heart attacks.
At least two patients died when catheter tips failed to deflate, blocking the flow of blood.
LENGTH: Short : 45 linesby CNB