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8 SPINE SURGEONS American Spine Center's Dr. Atif Malik Will Receive 2 Trials for Kickback, Tax Crime Accusations — 8 Key Points By Megan Wood A tif Babar Malik, MD, of Frederick, Md.-based American Spine Center, will face two separate trials for allegedly receiving kickbacks and partici- pating in a tax fraud scheme, e Frederick News-Post reports. Here is what you need to know: 1. On June 28, 2016, Dr. Malik and four oth- ers were indicted by a federal grand jury for allegedly participating in a $1.37 million kickback scheme. 2. Prosecutors will argue Dr. Malik accept- ed $244,000 from the kickback scheme, which involved a Linden, N.J.-based urine lab testing company paying the physicians for referrals. American Spine Center re- quired patients prescribed pain medica- tions to give urine samples for medication and narcotic monitoring. Between the spring of 2011 and August 2012, the center sent between 700 and 1,000 urine samples monthly for testing. 3. In April 2017, Dr. Malik's attorneys asked for two separate juries, noting the jury would be swayed when deciding whether he proper- ly reported his taxes if they also heard he had been involved in illegal activity. 4. On June 22, 2017, U.S. District Judge Marvin J. Garbis decided to give Dr. Malik two trials. 5. Sandeep Sherlekar, MD, co-founder of American Spine Center, was among those in- dicted in 2016. Dr. Sherlekar died by suicide in September 2016, according to Frederick police. His arraignment was planned for Oct. 7, 2016. 6. Prosecutors will argue Drs. Malik and Sher- lekar billed for procedures inappropriately, claiming they performed anesthesia services and nerve blocking procedures as two sepa- rate services requiring two physicians when the procedure only requires one physician. By naming two physicians on the bill, they received higher reimbursements. 7. Konstatin Bas, CEO of the urine lab testing company, pled guilty and may see a sentence of up to five years in prison and a $250,000 fine. He will be sentenced Dec. 5. 8. Mubtagha Shah Syed, a marketing agent who worked on behalf of the lab company to solicit medical practices to send blood and urine specimens for testing, pled guilty to ad- ministering the deal between American Spine Center and the urine lab testing company. 9. Muhammad Ahmad Khan, CEO of Amer- ican Spine Center, was also among those in- dicted. n 7 Trends in Spine Surgery Malpractice Cases — 75% Found in Favor of Surgeons By Laura Dyrda A study published in The Spine Journal examined the outcomes for spine surgery malpractice cases from 2010 to 2014. There were 103 malpractice cases involving spine sur- geons between 2010 and 2014 in the WestlawNext data- base. The study authors examined these cases, adjusted monetary values for 2016 inflation, and found: 1. Three-quarters of the cases were found in favor of the surgeon. 2 Among the cases where the plaintiff won, the average settlement was $2.3 million; the average winnings in cases brought before a jury was $4.9 million. 3. The absence of informed consent was cited in 34 percent of the cases, and compensation in those cases reached $2 million on average. 4. The cases involving intraoperative complaints were as- sociated with $3.6 million compensation on average. 5. The compensation increased significantly in cases in- volving orthopedic surgeons and nerve injury. 6. Cases associated with lower compensation to the plain- tiffs include wrong level surgery cases. 7. Lawsuits were often a long process; those finding in fa- vor of the defense took an average of 5.5 years and those finding in favor of the plaintiffs took an average of 4.34 years. "Surgeons can protect themselves and optimize care of pa- tients through clear and documented patient communica- tion, education and intraoperative vigilance to avoid pre- ventable complications," concluded the study authors. n