PITTSBURGH (CN) - Stryker Orthopedics and Zimmer Holdings pay doctors kickbacks to monopolize the market for orthopedic implants and allied products, a husband and wife medical supply team say in an antitrust complaint. Plaintiffs say the defendants have 95 percent of the U.S. market for hip, knee and joint replacements.
More than 700,000 total hip and knee surgeries are performed each year in the United States, two-thirds of them to patients covered by Medicare, Richard and Holly McCullough says in their complaint in Allegheny County Court. The McCulloughs say they have had a regional medical supply business since 1988 but the defendants' conduct, including the kickbacks, makes it impossible for them to compete.
The McCulloughs seek punitive damages. They are represented by E. Timothy McCullough of Murrysville, Pa.
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