$14.5 billion Medtronic has hired D. Cameron Findlay to serve as its senior vice president, general counsel, and corporate secretary, effective Aug. 24.

The new hire follows criticism against the medical device company for certain of its relationships with physicians in recent months. Specifically, U.S. Sen. Charles Grassley is investigating the company’s relationship with a University of Minnesota spinal surgeon, whom Medtronic paid more than $1.1 million in consulting fees. In addition, Grassley also has inquired into Medtronic’s relationship with Timothy Kuklo, an Army surgeon and Medtronic consultant who was accused of falsifying research. Medtronic announced in February that it will begin disclosing payments to U.S. physicians in March of 2011.

In his new role, Findlay will help lead an “initiative focused on the development of new standards for clarity and transparency in our relationship with physicians,” Medtronic CEO and Chairman Bill Hawkins said in a prepared statement.

Findlay most recently served six years as executive vice president and general counsel of insurance broker Aon after serving as deputy secretary of the U.S. Department of Labor from 2001 to 2003. Previously, he was a deputy assistant to the president and counselor to the chief of staff at the White House under President George H. W. Bush and a law clerk at the U.S. Supreme Court for Justice Antonin Scalia.