Philips, Johnson & Johnson part of corruption scheme in Rio, say Brazilian prosecutors

When Sérgio Côrtes, an orthopedist turned public administrator, was named Rio de Janeiro’s state secretary of health in 2007, then-governor Sérgio Cabral said in a speech: “I’m very happy to leave [public healthcare] in the hands of a doctor who is intolerant with incompetence, and an enemy of corruption.” A little over a decade later, both Sérgios would be jailed and accused of operating a billion-dollar corruption scheme that helped push Rio de Janeiro into a state of near-financial collapse.

Mr. Cabral, who governed Rio for eight years, has already been convicted in six...