A Medical Device Daily

Zimmer Holdings (Warsaw, Indiana) said that it has received a subpoena from the U.S. Department of Justice through the U.S. Attorney's Office in Newark, New Jersey, requesting documents for the period beginning January 2002 through the present pertaining to consulting contracts, professional service agreements and other agreements by which the company may provide remuneration to orthopedic surgeons.

Zimmer, the largest "pure play" orthopedic products company in the world, said it intends to "fully cooperate" with federal authorities.

Medical Device Daily reported in Friday's issue that a group of companies in the orthopedics product sector also received subpoenas from the Department of Justice (DoJ) late last Wednesday. The DoJ is seeking documents related to the consulting and service fees believed to have been paid to physicians by those companies.

Reported receiving the subpoenas were such big-name players as Stryker (Kalamazoo, Michigan), Biomet (Warsaw, Indiana), the DePuy division of Johnson & Johnson (New Brunswick, New Jersey) and Smith & Nephew (London), whose Smith & Nephew Orthopedics unit is located in Memphis, Tennessee.