Manhattan U.S. Attorney Files Lawsuit Against Spinal Implant Company, Its CEO, And Another Executive

Manhattan U.S. Attorney Files Lawsuit Against Spinal Implant Company, Its CEO, And Another Executive For Illegally Paying Millions Of Dollars In Kickbacks To Surgeons In Exchange For Using Its Products

Suit Alleges Approximately Half of Company’s Spinal Product Sales Were for Procedures Performed by Surgeons Who Received Payments from Company


Geoffrey S. Berman, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, William F. Sweeney Jr., Assistant Director-in-Charge of the New York Office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (“FBI”), and Scott J. Lampert, Special Agent in Charge of the New York Regional Office of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Office of the Inspector General (“HHS-OIG”), announced today that the United States has filed a civil healthcare fraud lawsuit against LIFE SPINE INC. (“LIFE SPINE”), MICHAEL BUTLER, the founder, president, and chief executive officer of LIFE SPINE, and RICHARD GREIBER, the vice president of business development of LIFE SPINE. The Government’s complaint seeks damages and civil penalties under the False Claims Act for paying kickbacks in the form of millions of dollars of consulting fees, royalties, and intellectual property acquisition fees to surgeons to induce them to use LIFE SPINE’s spinal implants, devices, and equipment. The lawsuit alleges that the surgeons who received these payments accounted for approximately half of LIFE SPINE’s total domestic sales of spinal products from 2012 through 2018. As set forth in the complaint, these payments violated the Anti-Kickback Statute and, as a result of this unlawful conduct, LIFE SPINE, BUTLER, and GREIBER caused hospitals and surgeons to submit false claims for payment to Medicare and Medicaid.

Manhattan U.S. Attorney Geoffrey S. Berman said: “As alleged, Life Spine and its senior management flagrantly ignored the law by paying surgeons millions of dollars in fees and royalties to get them to use Life Spine products during spinal surgeries. Kickbacks to doctors can alter or compromise their judgment about the medical care and services to provide to patients, and can increase healthcare costs. This office will continue to hold companies and the people who run them accountable when they make improper payments to doctors.”

FBI Assistant Director William F. Sweeney Jr. said: "Cases like this are why patients sometimes distrust the care they receive because they don’t know if it’s what the doctor actually thinks, or if there is a company pushing a new drug or new device. People seeking medical treatment are dependent on the advice they get, they don’t have the expertise to question the doctors. The FBI does all it can to stop those companies who overlook the patient who is just hoping to get better, and only sees the dollar signs.”

HHS-OIG Special Agent in Charge Scott J. Lampert said: “Paying kickbacks to physicians as a means to boost company profits, as alleged in this case, compromises medical judgement and drives up healthcare costs. Our agency, working closely with our law enforcement partners, will continue to investigate such illegal activities.”

Read more: https://www.justice.gov/usao-sdny/pr/manhattan-us-attorney-files-lawsuit-against-spinal-implant-company-its-ceo-and-another