MOUNT LAUREL, N.J., March 13 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- MedQuist Inc. , a leading provider of medical transcription services, is pleased to announce that it has resolved the investigation by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) regarding the Company's historic billing practices. Pursuant to the settlement, the Company agreed to the entry of final judgment in prospective litigation by the SEC, including an injunction against the Company from violating federal securities laws. Under the settlement, the Company will not pay any fines or penalties to the SEC, and the Company does not admit to or deny any liability or wrongdoing.
As originally reported by MedQuist in 2004, the SEC opened an investigation regarding the Company's historic billing practices after the Company announced it had undertaken an internal review of its billing practices and was delaying the filing of its annual report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2003. MedQuist cooperated fully with the SEC investigation and is pleased to conclude this matter.
Resolution of the SEC investigation follows the Company's resolution of the previously disclosed Department of Justice investigation, the previously disclosed settlements reached in the South Broward customer class action, the consolidated medical transcriptionist class action, and the Steiner shareholder class action lawsuits, and dismissal with prejudice of the Kanter shareholder derivative class action. Upon court approval and entry of final judgment in the SEC matter and medical transcriptionist litigation, the Company will have completely resolved all class action litigation and governmental investigation matters arising from the internal review of its historic billing practices.
About MedQuist:
MedQuist is a leading provider of medical transcription services, and a leader in technology-enabled clinical documentation workflow. MedQuist's enterprise solutions -- including mobile voice capture devices, speech recognition, Web-based workflow platforms, and global network of medical editors -- help healthcare facilities improve patient care, increase physician satisfaction, and lower operational costs. For more information, please visit http://www.medquist.com/.
"Safe Harbor" Statement under the U.S. Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995: Statements in this press release regarding MedQuist's business that are not historical facts are "forward-looking statements" that involve risks and uncertainties. Actual outcomes and results may differ materially from what is expressed or forecasted in forward-looking statements. As a result, forward-looking statements speak only as of the date they were made, and the Company undertakes no obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.
