Clinicians, health systems, hospitals and physician groups alike have gone to bat with the justice system this year in cases of wrongful termination, fraud, negligence and more.
Here are four legal cases involving spine practices and specialists this year — whether that be as defendants, plaintiffs or through settlements — that Becker's has reported since May 8:
1. A lawsuit filed by the U.S. attorney's office in Delaware has accused Wilmington, Del.-based Center for Interventional Pain and Spine, a medical group with 11 offices in Delaware, Maryland and Pennsylvania, of billing the government for unnecessary patient testing. CIPS and Chee Woo, MD, its president at the time, allegedly were paid millions between 2018 and 2021 through thousands of violations of the False Claims Act. The lawsuit seeks repayment to the government plus interest and penalties, and for CIPS to cover the cost of investigating and prosecuting the case.
2. A jury ruled in favor of Scott Lynch, MD, who alleged he was wrongfully fired from University Park-based Penn State Athletics after he alleged they interfered with medical decisions and then retaliated against him after reporting them. Dr. Lynch was awarded $5.25 million — $5 million in punitive damages and $250,000 in compensatory damages. Penn State Health is considering appealing the verdict.
3. Philadelphia-based Rothman Orthopaedic Institute has sued two of its former partners, Edison, N.J.-based Hackensack Meridian Health for allegedly poaching its physicians, and Jersey City, N.J.-based CarePoint Health for $336,555 in unpaid bills.
4. CHI Franciscan Health, St. Joseph Medical Center in Tacoma, Wash., and former orthopedic surgeon Kevin Schoenfelder, MD, settled with the U.S. Justice Department over alleged unnecessary spine surgeries. The hospital will pay $745,654, and Dr. Schoenfelder will pay $197,054 to resolve allegations against them. The hospital resolved allegations of billing Dr. Schoenfelder's spinal surgeries at more levels than necessary. Dr. Schoenfelder resolved claims related to those surgeries.