The Department of Justice announced that it had filed its own complaint in a whistleblower lawsuit alleging that Reliance Medical Systems, a spinal implant company, set up physician-owned distributorships in order to funnel payments to physicians who were using the company’s surgical implants.  According to the government’s complaint, Reliance allowed physicians who were using the company’s devices to acquire ownership shares in distributorships it owned.  Physicians allegedly ordered Reliance implants for their patients through the distributorships they partly owned.  One doctor, who was named as a defendant in the government’s complaint, allegedly received more than $400,000 over two years through the distributorship.

Read the DOJ press release, “United States Pursues Claims Against Neurosurgeon, Spinal Implant Company, Physician-Owned Distributorships and Their Non-Physician Owners for Alleged Kickbacks and Medically Unnecessary Surgeries”