A Medical Device Daily

Boston Scientific (Natick, Massachusetts) reported updated financial results for the fourth quarter ended Dec. 31. Subsequent to the release of earnings on Jan. 28, the company accrued for a patent litigation settlement and, as expected, finalized a previously announced goodwill impairment charge.

In accordance with U.S. generally accepted accounting principles, these events are required to be recorded in the fourth quarter, since they occurred after the Jan. 28 earnings release and before the filing of the company's annual report on Form 10-K.

The patent litigation settlement resulted in a pre-tax charge of $23 million ($18 million after-tax). The finalization of the goodwill impairment charge reflected a $54 million credit (on both a pre-tax and after-tax basis) and resulted in a final charge of $2.613 billion compared to the previously reported charge of $2.667 billion.