Comp Surgeon Agrees to Pay $1.75 Million to Settle Kickback Suit

A Virginia spine surgeon whose practice performed back surgery on many injured workers has agreed to pay $1.75 million to settle federal civil charges that he accepted kickbacks from a medical device manufacturer. Dr. Jeffrey Carlson, 53, of Newport News, was one of six surgeons named in a lawsuit filed last month in Boston. The U.S. Attorney for Massachusetts alleged that SpineFrontier paid the doctors millions in sham consulting fees so that the company's devices would be used in spinal surgeries. The firm channeled the payments through Impartial Medical Experts, which was also named i...