Becker's ASC Review

29 ORTHOPEDICS Estate of Keck Hospital spine surgeon alleges wrongful termination By Carly Behm T he estate of a spine surgeon who worked at Los Angeles-based Keck Hospital of the University of South- ern California alleges he was wrongfully fired a year before his death, according to a Jan. 4 report from mynewsla.com. Frank Acosta, MD, died Nov. 21, 2020, according to the report. The lawsuit al- leges wrongful termination, retaliation, disability discrimination and failure to accomodate and engage in the interactive process. A USC spokesperson told mynewsla.com that Dr. Acosta was named in a 2016 medi- cal malpractice suit aer a patient died in postoperative care from a surgery he performed. e suit said Dr. Acosta wasn't involved in that patient's post-op care and was dis- missed as a defendant in 2018, according to the report. However, he was deposed three months before he was dismissed. When Dr. Acosta said he wanted to pro- vide more facts regarding the deposition, USC allegedly began to retaliate, according to the lawsuit. Dr. Acosta was told he was suspended by USC due to an alleged domestic violence incident in which his partner hit him. USC later told him he was fired due to the suspension. The estate's lawsuit alleges Dr. Acosta was fired over the deposition testimony in the malpractice suit, the report said. The suit also alleges that his firing was motivated by his involvement in the al- leged domestic dispute, though charges were never filed. n Medicare pay for arthroscopic surgery down almost 30% since 2000: 4 notes By Laura Dyrda M edicare reimbursement for orthopedic arthroscopic surgery de- clined from 2000 to 2019, according to a study published in The Journal of Arthroscopic and Related Surgery. Researchers used the Physician Fee Schedule Look-Up Tool on the CMS website to calculate national reimbursement averages available from 2000 to 2019. They adjusted the average prices for inflation using the consumer price index. Four findings: 1. Medicare reimbursement to physicians for the 20 most common ar- throscopic procedures dropped almost 30 percent over the past two de- cades. 2. The mean reimbursement for physicians was $906 in 2000 and $632 in 2019. 3. The adjusted mean reimbursement rate for all arthroscopic procedures studied dropped 1.8 percent per year. 4. The mean compound annual growth rate for arthroscopic surgery reim- bursement was minus 1.9 percent over the study time period. n Smith+Nephew acquires orthopedics business for $240M By Alan Condon Smith+Nephew completed the acquisition of Integra LifeSciences' extremity orthopedics business for $240 million, the company announced Jan. 4. Integra's sales channel, shoulder replacement and upper and lower extremities portfolio strengthen Smith+Nephew's orthopedics line. The acquisition in- cludes a shoulder replacement system the company expects to launch in 2022. "We are excited to secure this established global business in the rapidly growing extremities segment," Skip Kiil, Smith+Nephew's president of global orthopedics, said in a Jan. 4 news release. "Its portfolio, specialised sales channel and product pipeline all strengthen our business." After closing, Integra's Orthopedics and Tissue Technologies segment has rebranded as the Tissue Technologies segment. "With this divestiture, we will now be in an even stronger position to capital- ize on our core products and technologies in neurosurgery and regenerative medicine," said Peter Arduini, president and CEO of Integra. In December, Integra entered into a definitive agreement to acquire regen- erative medicine company ACell for up to $400 million. n

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