Orthofix/Blackstone kickback case
This article was originally published in The Gray Sheet
Executive Summary
Arkansas surgeon Patrick Chan pleads guilty Jan. 3 to receiving illegal kickbacks from orthopedic device-makers Synthes and Blackstone Medical, which was acquired by Orthofix in 2006 (1"The Gray Sheet" Aug. 6, 2007, In Brief). Chan has also entered into a $1.5 million civil settlement with the U.S. government, the State of Arkansas and the "whistle-blower," an orthopedic device salesman who brought the case, in which Blackstone and Synthes are co-defendants, to the government's attention in 2006. Because Chan is expected to leave the country once sentenced, the prosecuting attorney filed a petition with the court Jan. 7 to first subpoena and depose him, since "Chan still has critical evidence on his remaining co-defendants' scheme to induce Chan and other surgeons to use the defendants' surgical products by paying them kickbacks under the guise of consulting agreements and similar arrangements.
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The Jan. 14, 2008 issue (1back page) erroneously reported that Arkansas surgeon Patrick Chan pled guilty Jan. 3 to receiving illegal kickbacks from Synthes and Blackstone Medical (now part of Orthofix). In fact, Chan pled guilty to receiving illegal kickbacks from a distributor of spine surgery devices made by Osteotech, Orthofix, Alphatec and Signus. Chan's agreement to pay $1.5 million to settle a whistleblower's allegations that he took illegal kickbacks from Synthes and Blackstone is part of a separate civil case, in which he admitted no wrongdoing
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