A former head of a private clinic in Milan was sentenced to six and a half years in prison for corruption. He recommended Johnson & Johnson’s prosthetic equipment to patients in exchange for money. The firm’s employees were also sentenced.
The il Fatto Quotidiano Italian newspaper reported.
Norberto Confalonieri was found guilty of illegally sponsoring and advertising Johnson & Johnson’s prosthetic equipment in exchange for money.
Moreover, the former head of the orthopedic department at the Gaetano Pini-CTO clinic recommended the placement of implants for patients who did not need it.
A Milan court also considered two episodes of alleged injury to patients for which Confalonieri was acquitted.
The doctor was arrested in March 2017 on charges of forcing patients to have a hip or knee implant made by Johnson & Johnson or B. Braun in exchange for money, gifts, paid conferences and raising a profile of the clinic where he worked.
According to the Corriere Milano local newspaper, Johnson & Johnson supplied 241 implants and B. Braun supplied 122 implants. Overall, between 2012 and 2015, the clinic has received 458 orthopedic prostheses worth € 1.1 million for implantation.
Confalonieri reportedly told patients that the prostheses from these firms were irreplaceable.
Italian investigators were unable to establish evidence of Confalonieri’s corruption with B. Braun and four employees of the company were acquitted.
However, two Johnson & Johnson employees were sentenced to four years in prison each for conspiring between the company and the doctor to promote and advertise their prostheses to patients in exchange for money.
