Zimmer Holdings, Inc. (Zimmer), a US based medical device company, announced that the Deferred Prosecution Agreement (DPA) with the US Attorney’s Office for the District of New Jersey had expired as scheduled. The company will no longer be subject to oversight by the monitor appointed under the DPA. During the past 18 months, the company has complied fully with the letter and spirit of the DPA and has made significant enhancements to its compliance structure and processes.
The company’s enhanced corporate compliance program addresses how the company is to interact with physician collaborators, managing potential or perceived conflicts of interest inherent in consulting relationships while preserving the best elements of collaboration that drive innovation in medical devices and services.
“While the expiration of the DPA is an important milestone, the Company remains committed to operating ethically and transparently on a global basis to preserve the trust required for productive, professional collaboration that ultimately benefits patients,” said David Dvorak, Zimmer president and chief executive officer.
The company expects to remain subject to the terms of a corporate integrity agreement it entered into with the Office of Inspector General of the Department of Health and Human Services until September 2012.