Japanese company Olympus has agreed to pay the US government $646 million as settlement regarding the bribery cases filed against the company.
Olympus' US unit, which is considered as the largest endoscopy distributor in the country, has confirmed that it would pay $623.2 million to resolve criminal charges as well as civil claims related to a kickback scheme given to doctors in the hospital. Also, the company will pay another $23 million to resolve the case related to the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act in Latin America, as per Financial Times.
The company openly admitted that they resulted in giving kickbacks to hospital administrators and doctors just to increase their sale. The payments included consulting payments, foreign travels, expensive meals, millions of dollars in grants and free endoscopes.
The equipment sales primarily consisted of endoscopes, the long thin tubes packed with tiny cameras that physicians used to inspect their patients lungs and colons. Product sales go from $20,000 and more, as reported by The Wall Street Journal.
According to LA Times, another product of Olympus is a medical scope worth $40,000 which was recently linked to a series of superbug outbreaks. There have been recorded deaths linked to the device that happened at UCLA medical center. Nacho Abia, the chief executive of Olympus of the Americas, however, acknowledged that the company takes full responsibility for its past products.
Abia added that the company is committed to comply with all the laws and regulations and adheres to its Code of Conduct which guides their business process, decision and the way they handle things. The company also promised it will continue to improve its compliance program. Since the scandal broke, the company has lost 80 percent of its stocks in 2011, but has been able to recover starting March 2015.
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