Justice Department investigating doc-owned device distributorship (OrthoSpineNews)
The subpoena
Federal investigators are pursuing what may be the first enforcement action against a surgeon involved in a controversial type of medical device firm known as a physician-owned distributorship. The probe follows scrutiny by the government into the impact of these PODs on patient care and costs.
Court records show that the Justice Department is conducting a False Claims Act investigation into the practices of Dr. Aria Sabit, a neurosurgeon who has practiced in California and Michigan. The civil lawsuit, filed Feb. 7 in U.S. District Court in Detroit, alleges that Sabit concealed the profits he made as an investor in the POD. It also alleges that financial incentives arising from the POD may have caused him to perform unnecessary surgeries.
Sabit is fighting a federal subpoena for records showing how much he was paid by a small spinal-surgery device firm called Apex Medical Technologies, which is based in Ventura, Calif., and operated by a company called Reliance Medical Systems. Sabit is also resisting government efforts for patient files that could show what equipment was used on each pa...
