Cape Girardeau physician gives rationale for settling case with feds

Cape Girardeau neurosurgeon Sonjay Fonn and Deborah Seeger, also of Cape, have released a statement via their attorney detailing why they settled a years-long lawsuit with federal officials.

On Wednesday, March 22, U.S. Justice Department announced it had come to terms on a $825,000 settlement with Fonn and Seeger and their companies, Midwest Neurosurgeons LLC and DS Medical LLC.

The resolution of the case, which dates to 2017, follows federal allegations that Fonn and Seeger -- previously referred to in news reports as the physician's fiancee -- and their business entities violated the False Claims Act "by soliciting and receiving kickbacks from spinal implant companies."

In a statement received via Fonn's attorney Jim Martin of Dowd Bennett Law Firm in Clayton, Missouri, "to avoid the expense and emotional toll of a second (civil) trial, Dr. Fonn and Ms. Seeger offered to pay the government a small fraction of what the government had originally hoped to collect, and the government accepted the offer."

The Dowd Bennett statement says the government originally wanted $20 million to resolve the case.

Deborah Seeger

Deborah Seeger

"The lawsuit was originally instigated primarily by other neurosurgeons in Cape Girardeau who were competitors of Dr. Fonn, one of whom testified at the first trial that their evidence was 'nothing but bald-faced rumors.' That same doctor also testified that he 'was willing to ruin somebody's life based on bald-faced rumors.' When the competitors brought this action against the couple, Dr. Fonn was widely viewed by many as the top neurosurgeon in the area," the release further states.

The Dowd Bennett release was conveyed to the Southeast Missourian through the auspices of Cape Girardeau's Limbaugh Law Firm.

"The success of our attorneys at the first trial and then with the court of appeals demonstrated the misguidedness of my competitors' actions. Ms. Seeger and I wanted to move on with our lives and mathematically it cost less to settle than it would have to win at a second trial," Fonn says in the March 22 statement. "We are very grateful to my many patients and my employees who stood by us through these challenging times."