He threw out roughly one-third to one-half of them, many of which were annotated, and the rest have to be hand-cleaned individually by running a vacuum over the spine and sides.

WSJ: The $500,000 Housecleaning

When Timothy Roberson, a 48-year-old former tire-factory worker, had his spine fused by surgeon Kevin Foley at Memphis's Methodist University Hospital in August 2000, he says Dr. Foley didn't tell him of his relationship with Medtronic.

WSJ: Top Spine Surgeons Reap Royalties, Medicare Bounty

Medtronic 's ( MDT - news - people ) spine surgery business is dominated by a procedure called spinal fusion, in which two of the segments of the backbone, called vertebrae, are fused together using metal rods and cages, bone taken from elsewhere in the body, and protein drugs that stimulate bone growth.

FORBES: Neurosurgery

When these medicines don't work, there are local anesthetics, and drugs delivered directly into the spine by pumps such as those made by Medtronic (nyse: MDT - news - people ).

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