Becker's Spine Review

11 SPINE Neurosurgeon accepted $3.3M in illegal payments to perform spine surgeries at hospital By Alan Condon N eurosurgeon Lokesh Tantuwaya, MD, 55, on Sept. 1 pleaded guilty to accepting about $3.3 million in bribes for perform- ing spine surgeries at the now-defunct Pacific Hospital in Long Beach, Calif. From 2010 to 2013, Dr. Tantuwaya accepted money from Michael Drobot, the former owner of Pacific Hospital, in exchange for him performing spine surgeries at the hospital, which violated the federal Anti-Kickback statute, according to the Justice Department. e bribe amount varied depending on the type of spine surgery. Dr. Tantuwaya entered into contracts with Mr. Drobot and admitted in his plea agreement that he knew or deliberately was ignorant that the payments were being given to him in exchange for bringing spine surgeries to the hospital. e surgeon also admitted to depositing bribe checks into his bank accounts, according to prosecutors. Dr. Tantuwaya said he knew re- ceiving money in exchange for the referral of medical service was il- legal and that he owed a fiduciary duty to his patients to not accept money in exchange for taking their surgeries to Pacific Hospital. Dr. Tantuwaya faces a maximum sentence of five years in prison at his Dec. 9 hearing. Mr. Drobot is serving a five-year prison sentence for his scheme that paid physicians, chiropractors and marketers illegal kickbacks to re- fer workers' compensation patients to the hospital for spine surgeries. During its final five years, the scheme resulted in the submission of more than $500 million in medical bills for spine surgeries involving kickbacks, the Justice Department said. Prosecutors said 23 defendants have been convicted for participating in the kickback scheme. n 4 HSS surgeons among top 10 for hip, knee replacement in New York By Alan Condon F our orthopedic surgeons from Hospital for Special Surgery — Alexander McLawhorn, MD; Geoffrey Westrich, MD; Amar Ranawat, MD; and Peter Sculco, MD — are ranked among the top 10 physicians for hip and knee replacement in New York, based on patient volume and experience, according to rankings authority Dexur. New York City-based Hospital for Special Surgery is the only hospital with multiple surgeons among the top 10 with the most experience in New York state. Dexur's physician rankings are based on Medicare claims analysis of patient volumes. Physicians with fewer than 11 cases between Jan 2021 and Dec 2021 were not considered for the study. Here are the top-ranked surgeons for hip and knee replacement in New York, according to Dexur: 1. Michael Ciminiello, MD. Peconic Bay Medical Center (Riverhead) 2. Alexander McLawhorn, MD. Hospital for Special Surgery (New York City) 3. Geoffrey Westrich, MD. Hospital for Special Surgery 4. Amar Ranawat, MD. Hospital for Special Surgery 4. James Nicholson, MD. Stony Brook Medicine 6. Scott Alpert, MD. Huntington Hospital 7. Peter Sculco, MD. Hospital for Special Surgery 8. Jeffrey Geller, MD. Columbia Orthopedic Surgery (New York City) 9. Andrew Wickline, MD. Genesee Orthopedics (New Hartford) 10. Steven Zelicof, MD, PhD. Montefiore New Rochelle Hospital n Investigation details tuberculosis outbreak from spinal allograft By Carly Behm A n investigation by the CDC and the FDA published in The Lancet reveals new details about a tuberculosis outbreak stemming from spinal allografts. The tissue donor was an 80-year-old man who had unrecognized risk factors, symptoms and signs of tuberculosis, the Aug. 4 report said. Bone was procured from him after he died and used in 154 units of allografts containing live cells. Those units were distributed to 37 healthcare facilities across 20 states between March 1 and April 2, 2021. A total of 113 patients had those allografts implanted, and the remaining 18 were located and sequestered. Eight patients died within eight to 99 days of implantation, and three of those deaths happened after the outbreak was recognized. The allografts were from Aziyo Biologics, and the company recalled the 154 units of FiberCel. Dozens of patients were treated, and some lawsuits were filed on behalf of patients who died after receiving the allograft. The report supported laboratory testing for M tuberculosis and routine assessment of prospective donors for risk factors and clinical findings. n

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