Wednesday, February 11, 2009

WILL THE DOJ PROSECUTE?

Recently, a formal whistleblowers complaint was unsealed in a Boston District Court against Blackstone Medical.  The question that Spineblogger would like to pose is;  Does anyone believe that the DOJ will follow through and seek legal recourse against the Lyons brothers and Blackstone or will the Paper Lion rear its ugly head?

4 comments:

  1. They better prosecute. The Lyons brothers represent everything that is wrong with our industry. Pure greed, at the expense of patients, surgeons and employees.

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  2. Dear Ortho Engineer; you are absolutely correct! The Lyons Brothers represent everything that is wrong with the Spine Industry. The onus is now on the DOJ to prove that they violated the Anti-Kickback Act, 42 USC Section 1320a-7b (b) "It is unlawful to knowingly offer to pay any remuneration in cash or in kind in exchange for the referral of any product which payment is sought from any federally-funded healthcare program." After interviewing numerous past and present Blackstone employees its time for the government to step up. The question that Spineblogger poses is; How big should the fine be? Remember a $40 million dollar find against Danek was a joke. In addition to throwing the Brothers in jail, they need to throw some of those surgeon celebrities to make an example out of them.

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  3. I doubt the Feds have the balls to throw a doc in jail. Chan got caught red handed and he walked, granted without his license. But he can practice in Canada or another country.

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  4. Dennis: Even though I agree with you, I guess at some point in time we need to stop being cynical and have some faith. As someone once stated; "If the DOJ doesn't step up after subjecting industry employees to FBI interviews and interrogations they need to shut up and let the Wild, Wild, West better known as the Spine Industry go on its merry way!" If they don't prosecute, we can call them the Paper Lion.

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