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Massachusetts Medical Device Executives Charged with Kickbacks
BOSTON – The U.S. Attorney’s Office has filed a civil health care fraud complaint against SpineFrontier, Inc. (SpineFrontier); Impartial Medical Experts, LLC (IME); Kingsley Chin, the founder and CEO of SpineFrontier; Aditya Humad, the CFO of SpineFrontier; Vanessa Dudley, Chin’s wife and the Business Administrator of IME; and other entities Chin owns and controls.
The government alleges that SpineFrontier, based in Malden, Mass., and the other defendants paid, and conspired to pay, kickbacks in the form of sham consulting fees via a sham third-party, IME. The lawsuit alleges that the defendants made these payments to surgeons to induce them to use SpineFrontier’s devices in spinal surgeries. The government contends that the defendants violated the Anti-Kickback Statute, and as a result caused federal health care programs to pay millions of dollars in false claims.
In addition, the U.S. Attorney’s Office has settled civil health care fraud claims against five physicians, each of whom admits to seeking and obtaining kickbacks from SpineFrontier, via the sham third-party IME, for consulting work he did not perform. Further, each physician admits that one or more of SpineFrontier, Chin, or Humad specifically instructed him to bill “consulting” hours to SpineFrontier for each and every surgery in which he used a SpineFrontier device, regardless of whether he spent any time actually consulting.
Dr. F. Paul DeGenova, an orthopedic spine surgeon in Ohio, admitted to accepting payments from SpineFrontier via IME for consulting hours he did not work, and agreed to settle the government’s claims for $486,985; Dr. Michael Murray, an orthopedic spine surgeon in New York employed by the Department of Veteran Affairs, admitted to accepting payments from SpineFrontier via IME for consulting hours he did not work, and agreed to settle the government’s claims for $330,668; Dr. Joseph Shehadi, a neurosurgeon in Ohio, admitted to accepting payments from SpineFrontier via IME for consulting hours he did not work, and agreed to settle the government’s claims for $323,419; Dr. Agha Khan, a neurosurgeon in Maryland, admitted to accepting payments from SpineFrontier via IME for consulting hours he did not work, and agreed to settle the government’s claims for $310,843; and Dr. John Atwater, an orthopedic surgeon who has worked in in Florida and Illinois, admitted to accepting payments from SpineFrontier via IME for consulting hours he did not work, and agreed to settle the government’s claims for $105,149.
Each of the five settling surgeons cooperated with the government’s investigation into the defendants, and the U.S. Attorney’s Office took that cooperation into account in these settlements.
“Medical device companies that pay surgeons kickbacks, directly or indirectly, corrupt the market, damage the health care system and jeopardize patient health and safety,” said United States Attorney Andrew E. Lelling. “We will pursue aggressively any organization or individual who fails to play by the rules.”
“Kickbacks undermine the integrity of federal health care programs and can result in unnecessary or harmful medical care,” said Assistant Attorney General Jody Hunt of the Civil Division. “The Department of Justice will pursue unlawful kickback arrangements in whatever form they occur to ensure the integrity of the medical care received by federal program beneficiaries.”
“Kickbacks paid to surgeons as sham medical consultants, as alleged in this case, cheat patients and taxpayers alike,” said Phillip M. Coyne, Special Agent in Charge for the Office of Inspector General of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. “Working with our law enforcement partners, we will continue to investigate kickback schemes that threaten the integrity of our federal health care system, no matter how those schemes are disguised.”
“Surgeons have a moral imperative to operate in a trustworthy, transparent manner. No legitimate medical practice would intentionally structure payments in a way that hides the true purpose of the payment,” said United States Attorney Andrew E. Lelling.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office will continue to investigate and prosecute any individuals or organizations that engage in unlawful kickback schemes, and will work to ensure that those who violate the law are held accountable.
Key Facts
- State: Massachusetts
- Category: Fraud & Financial Crimes
- Source: DOJ Press Release â†â€â€
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