A California court has ordered Medtronic to pay Applied Medical nearly $382m in damages for monopolistic conduct in the bipolar electrosurgical devices market. Applied Medical alleged that Medtronic had restrictive contracts with GPOs, hindering fair competition. Medtronic is not the only medtech giant found in violation of US anticompetition laws.

Applied Medical sought injunctive relief to prohibit Medtronic from enforcing restrictions. The court found that Medtronic used contracts with healthcare providers to stifle competition. Medtronic’s bundling practices prevented Applied from competing in the bipolar-device market, despite offering a superior product. Medtronic also conditioned discounts on buying their bipolar devices.

In a similar antitrust case, a court ruled in favor of Innovative Health against J&J’s subsidiary Biosense Webster, awarding $147m in damages. The FTC also struck down Edwards Lifesciences’ acquisition of JenaValve, citing anticompetition concerns. GTCR’s proposed merger-acquisition of Surmodics was initially blocked but later denied by the court in an anticompetitive activity lawsuit.

Read more at Yahoo Finance: Medtronic ordered to pay $382m in anticompetitive surgical device lawsuit