A Medical Device Daily

The Securities and Exchange Commission reported that on June 27, the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Florida entered a final judgment against defendant Southwestern Medical Solutions (Tampa, Florida).

The court also entered judgments of permanent injunction and other relief against defendants Richard Powell and Basil Meecham on July 24 and against defendant John Hedges on Aug. 22.

The judgments, entered by consent, enjoin the defendants from violations of Section 10(b) and Rule 10b-5 of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. Additionally, the judgments bar Powell, Meecham and Hedges from acting as officers or directors of a public company and permanently bar them from participating in any penny stock offering.

The judgments also provide for the imposition of civil penalties in amounts to be determined by the court upon the SEC's motion.

The SEC began this action in April (Medical Device Daily, April 21, 2008). The complaint filed by the commission alleged that the company, through its principals, issued several false and misleading press releases claiming that the FDA had approved its Labguard diagnostic testing device, that it had received an order for several thousand units of the Labguard device, and that it had pending patents and trademarks with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office.

The complaint also alleged that Southwestern submitted false and misleading information about its business to the Pink Sheets, an inter-dealer electronic quotation and trading system in the over-the-counter securities market.