NEWARK, New Jersey, Sept 27 (Reuters) - Four medical device makers will pay a total of $311 million and agreed to federal monitoring to settle a government probe into consulting deals prosecutors said were made with surgeons to sway decisions on which hip and knee implants to give to patients. Zimmer Holdings (ZMH.N: Quote, Profile, Research), which will pay more than half the total, Johnson & Johnson (JNJ.N: Quote, Profile, Research) unit DePuy Orthopaedics, Smith & Nephew (SN.L: Quote, Profile, Research) and Biomet (BMET.O: Quote, Profile, Research) will pay civil settlements and avoid criminal prosecution by agreeing to reforms, U.S. Attorney Christopher Christie said on Thursday in New Jersey.
