Manufacturer of Spinal Devices and Surgeon to Pay United States $2.6 Million
to Settle Alleged Kickback Scheme
Seattle Whistleblower Attorneys report that Omni Surgical L.P., doing business as Spine 360, a manufacturer of
devices used in spinal surgery, and Dr. Jamie Gottlieb, an Indiana
spinal surgeon, have agreed to pay $2.6 million to the United States to
settle allegations that Spine 360 paid illegal kickbacks to Gottlieb to
induce him to use the company’s products. Spine 360 is based in Austin,
Texas.
“The Department of Justice has longstanding concerns about improper
financial relationships between health care providers and their referral
sources, because such relationships can alter a physician’s judgment
about the patient's true health care needs and drive up health care
costs for everybody,” said
Assistant Attorney General Stuart F. Delery for the Justice Department’s
Civil Division.
“In addition to yielding a recovery for taxpayers, this settlement
should deter similar conduct in the future and help make health care
more affordable.”
The Anti-Kickback Statute restricts the financial relationships that medical device manufacturers may have with doctors who use or prescribe their products. It is intended to ensure that a physician’s medical judgment is not compromised by improper financial incentives and is instead based upon the best interests of the patient.
The settlement announced today involved payments that Spine 360 made between 2007 and 2009 to an entity controlled by Gottlieb. Although the payments were purportedly made pursuant to a series of intellectual property agreements, the United States contended that those agreements were shams, and that the payments were intended to compensate Gottlieb for using Spine 360 products in his surgeries. The claims settled by this agreement are allegations only, and there has been no determination of liability.
Source: Dept. of Justice
The Anti-Kickback Statute restricts the financial relationships that medical device manufacturers may have with doctors who use or prescribe their products. It is intended to ensure that a physician’s medical judgment is not compromised by improper financial incentives and is instead based upon the best interests of the patient.
The settlement announced today involved payments that Spine 360 made between 2007 and 2009 to an entity controlled by Gottlieb. Although the payments were purportedly made pursuant to a series of intellectual property agreements, the United States contended that those agreements were shams, and that the payments were intended to compensate Gottlieb for using Spine 360 products in his surgeries. The claims settled by this agreement are allegations only, and there has been no determination of liability.
Source: Dept. of Justice