Medtronic’s spinal devices unit has been in bunker mode since the FDA alerted surgeons about serious complications associated with off-label use of its products. Yesterday, the medical device giant received more bad news when sealed documents from a 2002 lawsuit were leaked to the Wall Street Journal.

The suit was filed by a former Medtronic lawyer. It alleges that the spinal devices unit provided surgeons incentives to use its products. The incentives included entertainment at a Memphis strip club, fishing expeditions to Alaska, free rides on Mardi Gras parade floats and royalties on inventions they didn’t develop.

The federal government does not allow companies to provide incentives that encourage physicians to use products covered by Medicare and Medicaid.

The spinal devices unit is already under investigation by Sen. Charles Grassley (R-IA) who wants to know whether incentives like the ones alleged in this lawsuit have driven widespread off-label use of Infuse, a growth factor that promotes healing following lower back surgery. Medtronic had refused to provide documents from the case to Sen. Grassley’s staff.

Medtronic denies engaging in improper behavior of any kind and added that it is “committed to reform and transparency in the industry.”

Britain’s National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) new treatment guidelines for attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) suggest that drugs should be used as first line therapy only for those who are severely impaired.

British physicians are strongly encouraged to implement the NICE recommendations, but they are not obligated to do so. Widespread adoption of the new guidelines would result in dramatic reductions in the use of Ritalin (Novartis) Concerta (Johnson & Johnson) and Strattera (Eli Lilly).

The NICE recommendations call for group-based parent education and training programs as the first line intervention for children with mild or moderate impairment due to ADHD. These behavioral/social interventions are also recommended, along with drug therapy, for severe cases.

NICE also stated that primary care physicians should neither diagnose ADHD nor start drug treatment on their own. These decisions should be left with psychiatrists, pediatricians or those having expertise in ADHD.

Approximately 3% of all school aged children are thought to have ADHD, but only a small percentage of them are severely impaired. In the US, more than 2.5 million children take drugs for ADHD.

Digg Inc., a social-networking site where users share their favorite content from anywhere on the web, plans to double its staff to 150 in the next year, expand into international markets and move into spiffy new, uh, digs.

A $28.7 million investment led by Highland Capital partners of Lexington, Massachusetts will fund the expansion. As part of the fresh funding, Highland’s Richard de Silva will sit on Digg’s board.

Digg was founded in 2004 and now claims to have 30 million visitors to its site each month, twice as many as one year ago. Its expansion comes at a time when traditional media companies are struggling as readership and advertising revenues shift to the Internet.

At the time of this post, the three most popular items on Digg were:  You liberals could put a negative spin on anything (a comment exchange from Flickr), Craig Ferguson on McCain suspending his campaign (a YouTube video), and Listen to yourself (a web comic).

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