An orthopedic surgeon in Newport News, Virginia has agreed to pay $1.75 million to resolve allegations that he accepted kickbacks from SpineFrontier, Inc., undermining the Department of Veterans Affairs Veterans Choice Program.
Dr. Jeffrey Carlson is the sixth surgeon who has agreed to settle with the government relating to his interactions with the Massachusetts-based medical device manufacturer, according to a release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
VA Office of Inspector General Special Agent in Charge Chris Algieri said the Veterans Choice Program allows veterans to receive care from a community provider like Carlson.
“The program is undermined when providers put their financial interests ahead of our nation’s veterans,” he said.
In March, a false claims act complaint was filed against the company and its executives by the government. It alleged that SpineFrontier paid kickbacks to spine surgeons itself and through a sham third-party entity, Impartial Medical Experts, LLC, which was owned and controlled by SpineFrontier’s founder and CEO, Kingsley R. Chin.
“By accepting kickbacks in the form of sham consulting fees, along with thousands of dollars in free meals, Dr. Jeffrey Carlson not only put his own financial well-being ahead of his patients, but he also cheated taxpayers who were footing the bill for his surgical procedures,” said Joseph R. Bonavolonta, Special Agent in Charge of the FBI Boston Division.
Bonavolonta added that the settlement illustrates the FBI’s continued commitment to working with its law enforcement partners to root out those trying to undermine the healthcare system.
Carlson admitted estimating his purported consulting hours based on the number of times he used a SpineFrontier product in a given month, as opposed to tracking actual time he spent consulting.
He also admitted that he cannot document the consulting hours he submitted for payment to SpineFrontier and Impartial Medical Experts. Carlson sought and received consulting payments for the time he spent during his surgical procedures, for which Medicare and other federal health care programs were already paying him.
Carlson also admits to accepting free meals for himself and his surgical staff, on almost every day that he performed a surgical procedure with a SpineFrontier product. In total, SpineFrontier provided Carlson and his staff meals that cost thousands of dollars, according to the release.
“We applaud the Department of Justice for addressing the issue of fraudulent activity against not only the military patient population but also the American public at large,” said Army Lt. Gen. Ronald Place, Director of the Defense Health Agency.
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Reach Julia LeDoux at Julia@connectingvets.com.
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