Diagnostic ban.

Diagnostic Products Inc. is still looking for the Food and Drug Administration to lift its ban on the company submitting new product applications sometime before the end of this quarter.

The Los Angeles-based manufacturer of medical testing equipment was hit with the ban last year after the FDA discovered widespread problems with the company's clinical trials and date collection process.

A plan of correction was submitted to the FDA. "They want to come in and re-inspect, (but) we are still hoping (to have this resolved) by the end of the first quarter," said Chief Financial Officer James Brill.

Less clear is what will come of a criminal investigation of the problems by the U.S. Attorney's Office, which is also probing insider trading conducted by company officers and directors before the FDA probe was made public. The company disclosed last year it had received a grand jury subpoena regarding those issues.

Shares of the stock have largely recovered since hitting a 52-week low of $37.14 in August, although they dipped this month on a weak earnings report related to a number of charges. The stock closed at $47.65 on Feb. 15.

The company reported fourth-quarter net income of $11.1 million, compared with $15.5 million for the like period a year earlier.

Among the charges were an additional $2.4 million the company has set aside to cover an expected settlement with the Department of Justice and the Securities and Exchange Commission over another problem at the company --kickbacks paid by managers of its Chinese unit to garner sales in violation of federal law.

The company, which disclosed the kickbacks two years ago, has now set aside $4.8 million, an amount that Brill said should cover the monetary value of the settlement.

Staff reporter Laurence Darmiento can be reached at [phone] ext. 237 or at [e-mail].