NEW YORK, May 14, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Pomerantz LLP announces that a class action lawsuit has been filed against Boston Scientific Corporation ("Boston Scientific" or the "Company") (NYSE:  BSX) and certain of its officers.  The class action, filed in United States District Court, for the Southern District of New York, and indexed under 19-cv-03642, is on behalf of a class consisting of all persons and entities who purchased or otherwise acquired Boston Scientific securities between February 26, 2015, and April 16, 2019, both dates inclusive (the "Class Period"), seeking to recover damages caused by Defendants' violations of the federal securities laws and to pursue remedies under Sections 10(b) and 20(a) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (the "Exchange Act") and Rule 10b-5 promulgated thereunder, against the Company and certain of its top officials.

If you are a shareholder who purchased Boston Scientific securities during the class period, you have until June 24, 2019, to ask the Court to appoint you as Lead Plaintiff for the class.  A copy of the Complaint can be obtained at www.pomerantzlaw.com.  To discuss this action, contact Robert S. Willoughby at rswilloughby@pomlaw.com or 888.476.6529 (or 888.4-POMLAW), toll-free, Ext. 9980. Those who inquire by e-mail are encouraged to include their mailing address, telephone number, and the number of shares purchased. 

[Click here to join this class action]

Boston Scientific was founded in 1979 and is headquartered in Marlborough, Massachusetts.  The Company develops, manufactures, and markets medical devices for use in various interventional medical specialties worldwide.

Within the Company's Urology and Women's Health business segment it develops, manufactures and sells devices to treat various urological and gynecological disorders, including transvaginal surgical mesh products indicated for POP.  At the beginning of the Class Period, the Company reported worldwide net sales of Urology and Women's health products of $535 million for the year ended December 31, 2014, equal to approximately seven percent of its consolidated net sales for that year.

In July 2011, the Food and Drug Administration ("FDA") released a Public Health Notice update regarding complications related to the use of Urogynecologic Surgical Mesh for pelvic organ prolapse and stress urinary incontinence.  By February 24, 2015, over 25,000 product liability cases or claims related to transvaginal surgical mesh had been filed against Boston Scientific, as well as cases in the United Kingdom.  Nevertheless, Boston Scientific continued to deny these allegations concerning its products.

On February 24, 2016, in its annual report for fiscal year 2015, Boston Scientific disclosed that a putative class action had been filed against it alleging, inter alia, that the Company had used counterfeit or adulterated resin products imported from China in their vaginal mesh implants, resulting in personal injury.  The Company also disclosed that Boston Scientific was in contact with the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of West Virginia regarding its alleged use of counterfeit imports from China.

On May 13, 2018, CBS's 60 Minutes aired a story highlighting the Company's alleged use of counterfeit imports in its surgical mesh products.  In response, Boston Scientific stated that it has "extensively tested the [plastic] resin to confirm its composition, safety, and performance."

The complaint alleges that throughout the Class Period, Defendants made materially false and misleading statements regarding the Company's business, operational and compliance policies.  Specifically, Defendants made false and/or misleading statements and/or failed to disclose that:  (i) Boston Scientific's surgical mesh products indicated for the transvaginal repair of POP were unsafe; (ii) accordingly, Boston Scientific's continued marketing and sales of these devices in the United States was unlikely to be sustainable; (iii) separately, the Company had sold vaginal mesh implants containing counterfeit or adulterated resin products imported from China; (iv) the foregoing conduct subjected the Company to a heightened risk of regulatory scrutiny and/or government investigations; and (v) as a result, the Company's public statements were materially false and misleading at all relevant times.

Finally, despite years of denials by Boston Scientific in response to questions concerning the safety of its vaginal mesh products, the apparent full extent of the Company's misstatements was revealed on April 16, 2019, when the FDA announced that it had "ordered the manufacturers of all remaining surgical mesh products indicated for the transvaginal repair of pelvic organ prolapse . . . to stop selling and distributing their products in the U.S. immediately."  The FDA stated that "the manufacturers, Boston Scientific and Coloplast, have not demonstrated a reasonable assurance of safety and effectiveness for these devices," as required to continue marketing the devices in the United States.  According to Jeffrey Shuren M.D., director of the FDA's Center for Devices and Radiological Health: "In order for these mesh devices to stay on the market, we determined that we needed evidence that they worked better than surgery without the use of mesh to repair POP. That evidence was lacking in these premarket applications, and we couldn't assure women that these devices were safe and effective long term[.]"

On this news, Boston Scientific's stock price fell $2.90 per share, or 7.67%, over the following two trading sessions, closing at $34.91 per share on April 17, 2019.

The Pomerantz Firm, with offices in New York, Chicago, Los Angeles, and Paris, is acknowledged as one of the premier firms in the areas of corporate, securities, and antitrust class litigation. Founded by the late Abraham L. Pomerantz, known as the dean of the class action bar, the Pomerantz Firm pioneered the field of securities class actions. Today, more than 80 years later, the Pomerantz Firm continues in the tradition he established, fighting for the rights of the victims of securities fraud, breaches of fiduciary duty, and corporate misconduct. The Firm has recovered numerous multimillion-dollar damages awards on behalf of class members. See www.pomerantzlaw.com.

CONTACT:
Robert S. Willoughby
Pomerantz LLP
rswilloughby@pomlaw.com

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SOURCE Pomerantz LLP