A Medical Device Daily

Delcath Systems (Stamford, Connecticut) reported filing a complaint in Connecitcut Superior Court in Stam-ford against former employee Jonathan Foltz, alleging that Foltz misappropriated certain Delcath trade secrets and other proprietary information and has shared this information with various Laddcapp investment vehicles.

Laddcapp is currently attempting to place its nominees on the board of Delcath and Delcath has filed suit vs. Ladd-cap Value partners and related parties, claiming that Ladd-cap has made various proxy misstatements concerning its nominees (Medical Device Daily, Aug. 8, 2006).

Delcath alleges that Foltz, former director of operations of Delcath, violated various trade secrets laws and breached various duties that he owed to Delcath.

Delcath said that in accordance with a recent order by a Connecticut Superior Court judge, Foltz was ordered not to disseminate any of Delcath's confidential information to others, including to the Laddcap entities or employees. Foltz further was ordered not to destroy or remove any Delcath materials or property.

The company said that on Monday a court-appointed custodian, a forensic computer expert and a Connecticut marshal went to Foltz's home to take temporary control of all of his computers and similar electronic devices and to make copies of certain materials.

It said Foltz must appear before the court on Aug. 21 to demonstrate why the current prohibitions on his conduct should not be extended.

Delcath is a developer of isolated perfusion technology for organ or region-specific delivery of therapeutic agents.

In other legalities, the Federal Trade Commission said that Walsh Optical (Hoboken, New Jersey) and its owner, Kevin Walsh, have settled charges of violating federal law by failing to verify consumers' prescriptions as required.

They will pay $40,000 in civil penalties and are prohibited from further violations. In addition to the $40,000 penalty, the settlement contains provisions that allow the FTC to monitor compliance.

The defendants run three web sites that sell contact lenses, and the FTC charges that the defendants often sold contact lenses without obtaining a prescription or verifying the prescription with the prescriber.

The commission said this is first enforcement under the Fairness to Contact Lens Consumers Act of 2003 and the Contact Lens Rule, issued in 2004, requiring that prescribers provide consumers with a copy of their prescription after they are fitted for lenses and that sellers either obtain a copy of the prescription or directly verify it with the prescriber before selling contact lenses.

The FTC said these laws are designed to allow consumers to obtain their prescriptions and comparison shop for lenses, and also protecting ocular health by prohibiting the sale of contact lenses without a valid prescription.