COMMITMENTS AND CONTINGENCIES

9 Months Ended

Dec. 29, 2012

Commitments and Contingencies Disclosure [Abstract]

COMMITMENTS AND CONTINGENCIES

COMMITMENTS AND CONTINGENCIES

We are presently engaged in various legal actions, and although ultimate liability cannot be determined at the present time, we believe, based on consultation with counsel, that any such liability will not materially affect our consolidated financial position or our results of operations.

During the third quarter of fiscal 2013, we issued a field action letter to blood center customers requesting visual inspection of a component of certain whole blood collection sets, due to the potential for a leak to occur at a very low frequency.  The component, referred to as a Y connector, was supplied by a contract manufacturer. We recorded inventory reserves of $6.1 million in cost of goods sold within the consolidated statement of income for the three months ended December 29, 2012 for removal of affected whole blood collection sets from inventory for destruction or rework. We will pursue all available means of financial recovery related to this inventory loss. However, no salvage or recovery value from these efforts was recorded as we cannot currently conclude whether a favorable outcome will result.

During the first quarter of fiscal 2012, we received customer complaints in Europe regarding a quality issue with our High Separation Core Bowl (“HS Core”), a plasma disposable product used primarily to collect plasma for transfusion. Certain of these customers also made subsequent claims regarding financial losses alleged to have been incurred as a result of this matter. Certain of these claims were recoverable under our product liability insurance policy. To date, we have recognized a $10.3 million liability offset by insurance receivables of $8.2 million and an expense of $2.1 million. As of December 29, 2012, all liabilities incurred as a result of the HS Core issue have been paid and receivables from our insurers have been collected. We do not expect to record additional material claims or insurance recoveries related to this matter.