Researcher settles price disclosure case with Guidant

Not-for-profit market research firm ECRI Institute has settled a legal dispute with Boston Scientific over whether it could publish pricing information on the devicemaker's products.  ECRI had been publishing prices on Boston Scientific products as part of its annual price-benchmarking survey, PriceGuide, which tallies medical product pricing information from 400 participating hospitals. ECRI ran into trouble, however, when Boston Scientific subsidiary Guidant asked ECRI to stop disclosing its information, arguing that publishing such information violated hospital contracts. ECRI sued to enforce its rights to publish, and Boston Scientific countersued, asking for a ban on publishing the data. Under the terms of the new settlement, ECRI can continue to publish.

To learn more about the dispute:
- read this Modern Healthcare piece (reg. req.)

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