C. R. Bard

C. R. Bard, Inc.
Public
Traded as NYSE: BCR
S&P 500 Component
Founded 1907
Founder Charles Russell Bard
Headquarters New Providence, New Jersey, U.S.
Area served
 Worldwide
Key people
 Timothy M. Ring
(Chairman) & (CEO)
Products Vascular, Urology, Oncology, and Surgical Specialties
Revenue IncreaseUS$2.72B (FY 2010)[1]
IncreaseUS$730M (FY 2010)[1]
IncreaseUS$509M (FY 2010)[1]
Total assets IncreaseUS$3.17B (FY 2010)[2]
Total equity DecreaseUS$1.63B (FY 2010)[2]
Number of employees
 14,000 (2015) [3]
Website www.crbard.com

C. R. Bard, Inc., now branded simply as Bard, headquartered in Murray Hill, New Jersey, USA, is a leading multinational developer, manufacturer, and marketer of medical technologies in the fields of vascular, urology, oncology, and surgical specialties. Bard markets its products and services worldwide to hospitals, individual health care professionals, extended care facilities, and alternate site facilities. An S&P 500 company with approximately 14,000 employees in 2015, Bard is perhaps best known for having introduced the Foley catheter in 1934. In 2013, Bard began negotiations to settle nearly 30,000 legal claims related to implantable vaginal meshes made by the company.[4]

History

C. R. Bard, Inc. was founded in New York City by Charles R. Bard in 1907. Bard's first business involved importing Gomenol, which was used to treat urinary discomfort.[5] The company formally incorporated in 1923, and three years later, in 1926, Charles R. Bard sold the company to John F. Willits and Edson L. Outwin for $18,000. Under Willits and Outwins, the company expanded into the catheter business, introducing the Foley catheter in 1934 and the America Woven Catheter in 1940.

In 1948, Bard's annual sales topped $1 million for the first time, and the company moved its headquarters from New York City to Summit, New Jersey. In 1954, a Bard scientist, Dr. DeBakey, developed the first arterial prosthesis. Three years later the company began selling Foley catheters that came in sterile packaging for the first time ever. Bard continued to innovate in the world of catheters, rolling out the Bipolar Temporary Pacing catheter in 1958 and the first latex balloon catheter in 1960. In 1961, Bard expanded beyond catheters, and began manufacturing products related to cardiology, radiology, and anesthesiology.

Bard went public in 1963 and was listed on the New York Stock Exchange in 1968. The company has introduced a variety of new health care products since that time. Its net sales first exceeded $1 billion in 1994. Around 2012, Bard acquired the company Lutonix.[6]

Products

Bard specializes in the manufacturing of vascular, urology, oncology and surgical specialty products.

Illegal kickback settlement

In 2013, Bard agreed to pay $48.26 million to resolve kickback allegations filed against the company, relating to submitting false claims to Medicare. The complaint, filed in 2006, alleges Bard paid illegal kickbacks to both physicians and consumers.[7]

Vaginal mesh device lawsuits

Vaginal mesh devices are threaded into the vagina to treat incontinence or to fortify pelvic muscles. Some women have charged that the devices "are poorly designed and contain materials that are unsafe for use in humans [and that] some require multiple surgeries to remove."[8] In 2012 the U.S. Food and Drug Administration requested that Bard and other vaginal-mesh makers study rates of organ damage linked to the mesh devices. In 2013, Bard began negotiations to settle nearly 30,000 legal claims related to implantable vaginal meshes made by the company.[4] In August 2015 it was announced that Bard had agreed to pay more than $200 million to resolve at least 3,000 of the legal cases related to the devices. The settlement resolves about one-fifth of the outstanding suits related to the implants. Bard said in court filings its devices are "safe and effective."[8]

Bard vena cava filter

An Inferior vena cava filter, or more simply, a blood clot filter, is a device that is surgically placed in the vena cava artery to prevent blood clots from moving into the heart or lungs, which can be fatal. On December 31, 2015, NBC News released information about an investigation that they had conducted of the Bard G2 series filters which had replaced an earlier version, the Recovery filter. Introduced in 2002, the Recovery filter was associated with 27 deaths and several hundred non-fatal problems, and "a confidential study commissioned by Bard showed that the Recovery filter had higher rates of relative risk for death, filter fracture and movement than all of its competitors." However, according to the NBC report, the G2 series filters were a modified version of the Recovery filter and Bard was aware that it had "similar and potentially fatal flaws" shortly after it was put on the market. But instead of recalling the replacement filters, they were kept on the market for five years. According to Bard and FDA records, at least 12 deaths and hundreds of problems have been linked to the G2 series filters.[9]

References

  1. 1 2 3 C.R. Bard (BCR) annual SEC income statement filing via Wikinvest.
  2. 1 2 C.R. Bard (BCR) annual SEC balance sheet filing via Wikinvest.
  3. ↑ "CR Bard at Yahoo! Finance
  4. 1 2 "C.R. Bard negotiating to settle thousands of lawsuits involving vaginal-mesh implants". NJ.com. Retrieved 15 April 2014.
  5. ↑ Anthony Hallett, Diane Hallett Entrepreneur magazine encyclopedia of entrepreneurs Page 27 - 1997 "Charles R. Bard ... During a trip to Europe, he encountered a medicine called Gomenol, derived from the eucalyptus tree, which relieved his ..."
  6. ↑ George, John (September 5, 2012), "Intact Vascular raises $15.5M, developing stapler to replace stents", Philadelphia Business Journal, bizjournals.com, retrieved September 5, 2012
  7. ↑ Tycko, Jonathan. "Top Whistleblower Settlements of 2013 – To Date". The National Law Review. Retrieved 6 November 2013.
  8. 1 2 Feely, Jef (4 August 2015). "Bard Said to Pay $200 Million to Settle Vaginal-Mesh Cases". Bloomberg. Retrieved 1 January 2016.
  9. ↑ Sandler, Tim; Gosk, Stephanie (31 December 2015). "Why Did Firm Keep Selling Problem Blood-Clot Filters?". NBC News. Retrieved 1 January 2016.

External links

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