Insurer, Surgical Supplier Settle Coverage Fight Over J&J Suit

Just days before a lawsuit over coverage of a surgical supply company was set to go to trial, Hallmark Specialty Insurance Co. reached a settlement Tuesday with the company accused by Johnson & Johnson of selling counterfeit medical products. 

The settlement comes less than a month after U.S. District Judge Rodolfo A. Ruiz II rejected Hallmark’s motion for summary judgment in its suit against Lion Heart Surgical Supply LLC. 

Details of the settlement were not released, and counsel for the parties did not immediately respond Tuesday to requests for comment. 

The insurer had argued that it doesn’t owe coverage because its policy with Lion Heart listed “Lion Heart Surgical Equipment, Corp,” not “Lion Heart Surgical Supply Corp,” according to the Florida federal judge’s ruling. It also argued that an exclusion in its policy for criminal acts would preclude coverage.