Two legal cases involving spine surgeons and implants were settled in the last seven days.
1. A Texas neurosurgeon settled allegations he billed Medicare for spine procedures he didn't perform, the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of Texas said Nov. 27. Rajesh Bindal, MD, allegedly billed for the surgical implantation of neurostimulator devices from March 16, 2021, to April 22, 2022. He is paying $2 million to resolve the allegations.
2. Medtronic has entered into a settlement with Dan Abrams Co. in a yearslong spine device fraud lawsuit. The initial lawsuit was filed in 2015 by the Dan Abrams Co., which alleged that Medtronic represented certain spine devices that could only be used in the cervical spine as being applicable to the thoracolumbar spine in an FDA clearance application as a class 2 device. A federal district court in California ruled in favor of Medtronic in 2019, but the plaintiffs appealed and circuit court reversed the decision. The two parties agreed to settle the dispute Oct. 31, informing the court in a Nov. 27 stipulation of dismissal.