West Virginia Pipe Trades Health & Welfare Fund v. Medtronic, Inc.

Medtronic (defendant) funded clinical trials for its INFUSE bone-graft alternative and, according to the complaint, paid the doctor-authors of medical-journal articles about those trials to downplay INFUSE's risks and overstate bone grafting's shortcomings, articles the FDA relied on in approving the procedure; investor West Virginia Pipe Trades Health & Welfare Fund (plaintiff) brought a securities class action alleging a scheme to defraud under Rule 10b-5(a) and (c). The district court granted Medtronic summary judgment, and the fund appealed.

Whether a scheme-to-defraud claim under SEC Rule 10b-5(a) and (c) must rest on deceptive conduct beyond the fraudulent misrepresentations that would themselves be actionable under Rule 10b-5(b).