Lured by a bigger payday, a medical device maker sold fake plastic parts. Many were implanted in chronic pain patients

The pitch from Stimwave, a medical device maker, was alluring. As a startup tackling chronic pain with nerve-stimulating devices, it promised to release patients from the stranglehold of addictive painkillers. And unlike its competitors, whose devices required patients to have clunky batteries implanted in their bodies, Stimwave’s system came with a sleek, wearable battery attached to thin wires under the skin.

There was just one problem: some of the devices contained dummy pieces of plastic that did nothing at all.

While the components were fake, they let Stimwave sell their devices for thousands of dollars more than they otherwise could. The company’s CEO, Laura Perryman, pushed the company’s staffers to lie to physicians about the plastic part being medically necessary, according to interviews with former employees and a review of court filings.

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