Issue link: https://beckershealthcare.uberflip.com/i/1305916
9 SPINE SURGEONS North American Spine Society recognizes 20 spine specialists under 40 By Laura Dyrda T he North American Spine Society released its list of 20 spine specialists under 40 in the October 2020 edition of SpineLine. e surgeons featured were: 1. Barrett Woods, MD: Rothman Institute (Philadelphia) 2. Brian Coleman, DC: VA Connecticut Healthcare System (West Haven) 3. Daniel Kang, MD: Madigan Army Medical Center (Tacoma, Wash.) 4. Lloydine Jacobs, MD: Nexgen Orthopedics (Paramus, N.J.) 5. Emily Putney, DO: Coastal Orthopedics & Sports Medicine (Port St. Lucie, Fla.) 6. Antonio Webb, MD: South Texas Spine & Surgical Hospital (San Antonio) 7. Heidi Hullinger, MD: New Jersey Spine Specialists (Montclair, N.J.) 8. Elizabeth Lord, MD: UCLA Health 9. Tina Raman, MD: NYU Langone Center (New York City) 10. Nicholas Dea, MD: Vancouver Spine Sur- gery Institute (Canada) 11. Owoicho Adogwa, MD: UT Southwestern Medical Center (Dallas) 12. Andrew Trontis, MD: Cedars-Sinai Spine Center (Los Angeles) 13. David Cheng, MD: USC Keck School of Medicine (Los Angeles) 14. Venita Simpson, MD: Navy neurosurgeon (Portsmouth, Va.) 15. Bassel Diebo, MD: SUNY-Brooklyn 16. Danielle Sarno, MD: Brigham and Wom- en's Hospital (Boston) 17. David Kaye, MD: Rothman Institute (Philadelphia) 18. Peter Derman, MD: Texas Back Institute (Plano) 19. Deeptee Jain, MD: Washington University (St. Louis) 20. Khoi an, MD: Duke University (Durham, N.C.) n Dr. Justin Brown creates surgical technique to reverse paralysis By Alan Condon N eurosurgeon Justin Brown, MD, has devel- oped a surgical technique to help some neurologic patients regain movement, according to a Sept. 13 Boston Herald report. Four things to know: 1. Dr. Brown, director of The Paralysis Center at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston, has been able to reverse paralysis by performing a nerve transfer. 2. The novel technique "plugs in" functioning nerves near the target muscle to the injured nerve to restore movement. 3. Dr. Brown aims to begin clinical trials exploring the use of a nerve transfer to restore bladder con- trol in individuals with spinal cord injuries. 4. Before joining Massachusetts General Hospital, he established the UC San Diego Paralysis Center, which expanded the paralyzing disorders treated to include spinal cord injuries, stroke and brain in- juries. n Neurosurgeon, practice administrator to settle false claims allegations for $1M: 5 details By Laura Dyrda A Philadelphia-based neurosurgeon and his practice admin- istrator agreed to settle false claims allegations related to billing for an electro-acupuncture device, according to the U.S. Department of Justice. Five details: 1. Sagi Kuznits, MD, and the director of Neurosurgical Care Pnina Kuznits are accused of billing Medicare, Tricare and other federal programs for implanting neurostimulators when the actual proce- dure was a nonsurgical application of Stivax and/or P-stim, which are electro-acupuncture devices. 2. The procedures were performed by a physician assistant, according to the DOJ. The procedures did not require anesthesia and did not take place in an operating room, the DOJ said. 3. The practice also billed for eVox, a memory-loss device, using a combination of six reimbursable codes to maximize reimburse- ment. Medicare does not reimburse for eVox as billed. 4. Dr. Kuznits and Pnina Kuznits agreed to pay $1 million to settle the false claim allegations. 5. Dr. Kuznits is suing the marketers of the P-Stim products, Doc Solutions. n