(WSBT) Three Warsaw-based orthopedics companies are among those who paid $311 million in fines. Now they're revealing how much money they gave to doctors and researchers as part of an agreement with federal prosecutors in New Jersey.

Prosecutors allege Biomet, Zimmer and DePuy are among those that gave doctors kickbacks for exclusively using their products. The federal government will not prosecute them for 18 months if the companies comply with the terms of the settlement and agree to reforms and oversight.

Three professors at the University of Notre Dame are on the lists revealed by the companies.

Notre Dame Engineering Professor Glen Niebur told WSBT News the money he received from Zimmer was for use of a special bone imaging machine. He says universities often do research for orthopedics companies that they can’t do themselves. Niebur says the companies usually don't place any restrictions on researchers.

“If we find faults or problems with their products, we've never been asked to cover those up to say that didn't happen,” Niebur said.

Professor Niebur says the companies not only provide funding for research into their own products, but for overall orthopedics research that may or may not pay off financially in the end.

“They take their chances on what's going to come out of the research, so it could have a negative impact, even though they paid for it,” Niebur said.

The companies have also agreed to reforms and oversight of the money they give to researchers and doctors.

“Hopefully if there have been individuals who have abused the system in the past, which I think there's not been very many, I think those will be eliminated," Niebur said.

Niebur says the process has already slowed down approval for research projects, but those delays are a small price to pay so legitimate research can continue.

If the companies comply with the settlement, the charges will eventually be dropped. Doctors say the payments were used to determine whether the products would actually work on patients.

To see the list of doctors and researchers paid by Biomet, DePuy, and Zimmer, and to read the criminal complaints against the companies, click on the links in the Related Content box.