DETROIT (WWJ/AP) - A federal appeals court has affirmed a nearly 20-year prison sentence for a doctor who performed unnecessary spinal surgeries in California and Michigan.
Prosecutors referred to the procedures as “plain butchery.”
Aria Sabit, formerly of Bloomfield Hills, pleaded guilty to conspiracy and fraud but argued that the sentence was excessive.
He worked at Community Memorial Hospital in Ventura, California, until 2011 when he moved to metro Detroit to work at Beaumont Hospital.
Sabit allegedly promised patients certain spinal surgeries to alleviate their pain, but actually performed other procedures that brought no relief, according to the indictment. Investigators said in some cases Sabit told patients he was performing a spinal fusion; but when they later sought help from other doctors, they learned that no devices were implanted.
Sabit had a financial stake in Apex Medical Technologies and made money when he used its spinal devices, according to the FBI.
In its opinion, the appeals court noted that some patients were left permanently disabled after seeing Sabit.
“Sabit, unlike most doctors who commit health care fraud, tricked dozens of vulnerable and defenseless patients into getting sham surgeries,” the court said. “During these surgeries, Sabit would cut people open and either insert unnecessary medical devices or insert nothing, despite telling the patient and insurer to the contrary.
“Many victims testified during sentencing about the pain — sometimes permanent — that they endure because of what Sabit did,” the court said.