2010–2020
In October 2010, the company was fined $600,000 by the US Department of Justice for paying a US Army doctor to use their devices and recommend them to others. In the same month Boston Scientific acquired Asthmatx, Inc., for $193.5 million, with payments of up to $250 million being paid on the achievement of specified revenue-based criteria through 2019.
In January 2011, Boston acquired Atritech, Inc., for $100 million, plus up to $275 million in additional potential payments. In the same month, Boston Scientific acquired Intelect Medical, Inc., for $78 million and the remaining 86% of Sadra Medical, Inc., not already owned for $193 million plus contingent payments. At the same time, the business divested its neurovascular business to Stryker Corporation for $1.5 billion.
In 2011, Guidant, a subsidiary of Boston Scientific, was criminally convicted of a failure to report defibrillator safety problems to the FDA. The company was forced to pay more than $296 million in criminal fines and had to submit to the supervision of the U.S. Probation Office for three years. Even though Guidant knew the devices were defective, they continued to sell the defibrillators anyway. Guidant LLC had also advised its sales representatives to tell physicians that nothing was wrong with the defibrillators, and told the FDA that the proposed corrections were not being done to correct life-threatening device flaws, but were rather to improve process throughout. Not until three deaths had occurred and ten months had passed did the company reveal the defects in 2005. The directives for these wrongdoings had been implemented prior to Boston Scientific's acquisition of Guidant in 2006. In 2013, BSC and three of its subsidiaries – Guidant LLC, Guidant Sales LLC, and Cardiac Pacemakers, Inc. – agreed to pay $30 million to settle allegations that, according to the Justice Department, between 2002 and 2005, Guidant knowingly sold defective heart devices to health care facilities that in turn implanted the devices into Medicare patients.
In June 2012, Boston Scientific officially acquired Cameron Health for a total sum of $1.3 billion, paid out incrementally as various revenue milestones were achieved. In September, the company announced it would acquire BridgePoint Medical, Inc., developer of a catheter-based system to treat coronary chronic total occlusions. In October, the company acquired Rhythmia Medical, Inc., developer of mapping and navigation methods for use in cardiac catheter ablations and other electrophysiology procedures. A month later, the business acquired catheter-based renal denervation system developer, Vessix Vascular, Inc.
In November 2013, Boston announced it would acquire Bard EP, the electrophysiology business of C.R. Bard, Inc. for $275 million.
In May 2014, Boston acquired hysteroscopic intrauterine tissue removal specialist, IoGyn, Inc. In September, the business announced it would acquire the Interventional business of Bayer.
In March 2015, the company announced it would acquire Endo International Plc's American Medical Systems urology business for at least $1.6 billion, expanding the company's health and prostate treatments. In April, Boston announced its intention to acquire Xlumena, Inc. In October Boston announced it had invested further in percutaneous mitral valve replacement system developer, MValve Technologies, gaining a right to acquire the business in the future.
In July 2016, the business acquired the manufacturer of radiofrequency ablation systems, Cosman Medical, Inc. In September, Boston Scientific announced it had acquired EndoChoice Holdings, Inc., becoming part of the Boston Scientific Endoscopy business for $210 million. In November, the company acquired the gynecology and urology portfolio of Distal Access, LLC, a company that designs minimally invasive medical devices. In December 2016, the business acquired a 15% stake in Neovasc, Inc., for $75 million.
In 2016, Boston Scientific acquired EndoChoice, located in Alpharetta, Georgia.
Boston Scientific is one of several manufacturers of a medical device called transvaginal mesh, a type of surgical mesh used to treat pelvic organ prolapse. Experts concluded that the medical company had used cheap, counterfeit resin, which was both toxic and degraded when exposed to oxygen. When this was announced on 60 Minutes, Boston Scientific responded by saying the broadcast was "irresponsible and misleading," citing a 2017 Food and Drug Administration (FDA) report stating that although they found variability in the polypropylene resin, "these differences do not present new safety or effectiveness concerns." One woman, who sued in 2011, was awarded $100 million. Two operations had failed to remove all the parts of the mesh and she was still in pain. The company appealed the decision and had the amount reduced to $10M. In 2015, Boston Scientific announced it would pay $119 million to 2,970 lawsuit plaintiffs, who had been injured by the mesh. On March 23, 2021, the company agreed to pay $189 million to settle allegations that it had seriously misrepresented the risks related to the vaginal mesh. As of Jan. 27, 2021, around 54,000 lawsuits related to transvaginal meshes had been filed against Boston Scientific. In April 2019, the FDA ordered Boston Scientific and Coloplast to remove all of their vaginal mesh products from the United States market. In 2020, Johnson & Johnson was required to pay $344 million for failing to disclose the serious product risks of its transvaginal mesh product.
In May 2017, the company acquired Symetis SA, a developer of minimally invasive transcatheter aortic valve implantation devices. In October, Boston acquired Apama Medical Inc. for up to $300 million.
In April 2018, Boston Scientific announced the triple closure of its acquisitions of women's health company, nVision Medical Corporation, NxThera and Securus Medical Group, Inc., for up to $50 million. In July, Boston Scientific announced it would acquire Cryterion Medical, Inc, Veniti, Inc., in August Augmenix, Inc., and Claret Medical, Inc. In November, Boston Scientific announced it would acquire UK medical device maker BTG plc for $4.2 billion. In late December, the company announced it would acquire Millipede, Inc for $325 million, after previously investing $90 million in the company.
In May 2019, the company announced it would acquire Vertiflex, Inc., with the aim of increasing its interventional pain therapy offerings. Vertiflex principally developed treatment for lumbar spinal stenosis.
