ESC Medical Suits Up for Legal Battle; Settles Another Fight Out of Court

ESC Medical Systemsreen's legal victory in 1999 over Mitchel Goldman, M.D., the self-described "promoter" and "best salesman" for PhotoDerm, an intense pulsed-light- source medical device manufactured by <%=company%> Ltd. (Yokneam, Israel), appears to be a precursor of things to come. ESC Medical Systems Ltd. will attempt to defend itself in Federal Court against allegations of conspiracy to defame in a libel suit brought by Green, a board certified dermatologist and medical laser expert. Last year, Goldman was found guilty of defamation in California Superior Court, in a lawsuit brought by Green.

Green was the victim of damaging false statements by Goldman because Green reported findings that cast doubt on the safety and efficacy of PhotoDerm. Those findings were ultimately reported in the January 1998 of the Journal of the American Academy of Dermatology (JAAD).

Goldman, who had a financial interest in ESC, made the statements while promoting the PhotoDerm device at a national medical laser conference in 1998, in which hundreds of physicians were in attendance. Green, who served as an Essex investigational review board (IRB)-approved clinical investigator for the PhotoDerm unit, studied the device under the specifications set out by the manufacturer under a FDA approved protocol.

According to Green, physicians have returned an undisclosed number of PhotoDerm devices, and other physicians are seeking to return their device for a refund because of its lack of efficacy and burn scars that the device has inflicted.

Yet another battle
This is not the first time ESC has come under fire. Last year, renegade group of company executives attempted to wrangle control of the company, resulting in a half-year-long imbroglio (see ESC Medical Battles for Control of Company, ESC Sues Genger Group Members, and More Feuding Between ESC Medical Systems and Genger Group). ESC will again do battle when Green vs. ESC trial is heard later this year in the U.S. District Court of Florida.

One down, one to go
Despite gearing up for its latest courtroom fight, ESC has succeeded in avoiding another legal battle. The company and LPG Systems of France have reached an out-of-court settlement for the pending lawsuit brought by LPG's U.S. subsidiary. The suit involved the parties' therapeutic massage equipment and systems used for the temporary reduction in the appearance of cellulite.

"The time and money invested in this suit have been diverting us from our primary purpose, which is to manufacture and sell high-quality medical and aesthetic equipment," says Yacha Sutton, ESC Medical Systems president and CEO. "In addition we are very excited at the prospect of becoming a distributor of LPG products and to be selling LPG's Endermologie cellulite system through our own channels of distribution."

Edited by Kristin Keiser