An indictment in the United States District Court for the District of Massachusetts has charged Kingsley Chin, M.D., Aditya Humad, and SpineFrontier, Inc. in an alleged kickback scheme.
Indictment Charges SpineFrontier Owner in Alleged Kickback Scheme
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Secondary#kickbacks#kingsleychin#spinalfrontier
Malden, Massachusetts-based SpineFrontier developed and sold spinal medical products. Dr. Chin is the founder, principal owner, president, chief executive officer, and a director of SpineFrontier. Humad is the chief financial officer and vice president of business development of SpineFrontier.
Dr. Chin, Humad, and SpineFrontier were each indicted on one count of conspiring to violate the Anti-Kickback Statute, six counts of violating the Anti-Kickback Statute, and one count of conspiracy to commit money laundering.
The indictment also listed seven surgeons and one distributor as co-conspirators. Jason Montone, D.O., a spine surgeon practicing in Missouri and Kansas, was the only named surgeon. John Balzer was the named distributor. Balzer owned and operated BIOinnovations LLC, a Lenexa, Kansas-based distribution company that allegedly worked with Dr. Montone and distributed SpineFrontier products in Kansas and Missouri.
The indictment claims that from 2012 through mid-2019, Dr. Chin, Humad, and SpineFrontier paid millions of dollars in sham consulting fees to surgeons. The sham consulting fees were allegedly bribes paid to surgeons to induce them to use SpineFrontier products. The seven surgeon co-conspirators were purportedly paid at least $2,747,463 in bribes.
The surgeries were supposedly paid for in whole or in part by federal healthcare programs. Under the Anti-Kickback Statute, it is illegal to pay bribes to physicians to induce them to use devices in surgeries or other medical procedures paid for by federal healthcare programs.
The indictment also claims that Dr. Chin, Humad, and SpineFrontier funneled funds through Impartial Medical Expert, LLC to pay bribes to the surgeons in furtherance of the purported scheme.
For OTW’s continued coverage of the SpineFrontier kickback allegations, see “Missouri Surgeon and Kansas Distributor Plead Guilty To Kickbacks,” “Surgeon Pays $1.75 Million To Settle Kickback Allegations,” and “U.S. Attorney Sues SpineFrontier Over Alleged Kickback Scheme.”
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This is a fascinating development. In my practice we've seen similar outcomes with the revised protocol. The key differentiator seems to be patient selection criteria. Has anyone else noticed the correlation with BMI thresholds?
Great point. I'd push back slightly on the conclusion, the sample size in the cited study is too small to draw population-level inferences. That said, the directional signal is compelling and worth a larger RCT.
We implemented a similar approach last year. Early results are promising but we're still gathering 12-month follow-up data. Happy to share our protocol if anyone is interested.
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