BALTIMORE (Legal Newsline) -- Allegations by six states against medical device company NuVasive for improperly marketing a spinal surgery product and providing illegal kickbacks have been settled for $13.5 million, Maryland Attorney General Brian Frosh recently said.
NuVasive allegedly marketed the spinal surgery product CoRoent System for uses not approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), a whistleblower lawsuit stated. The suit also claimed that kickbacks in violation of the federal Anti-Kickback Statute were provided to doctors who used the CoRoent System.
NuVasive allegedly marketed the CoRoent System between 2008 and 2013 as approved to surgically treat two complex spine deformities, severe scoliosis and severe spondylolisthesis. Because of this, physicians and hospitals submitted claims to Medicaid and federal health care programs for spinal surgeries not eligible for coverage.
The kickbacks mentioned in the suit included paying promotional speaker fees and expenses for physicians' attendance at events sponsored by the Society of Lateral Access Surgery, allegedly created and funded by NuVasive.
The lawsuit against NuVasive was filed initially in the U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland under the federal False Claims Act and other state false claims laws.