Cape neurosurgeon, fiancee to pay $825K lawsuit settlement over alleged kickbacks

A Cape Girardeau neurosurgeon and his fiancee have agreed to settle a lawsuit relating to alleged illegal kickbacks for $825,000.

Deborah Seeger

Deborah Seeger

Dr. Sonjay Fonn and his fiancee, Deborah Seeger, and their companies — Midwest Neurosurgeons LLC and DS Medical LLC — agreed to the settlement with the U.S. Justice Department to resolve a lawsuit on alleged violations of the False Claims Act, according to a Justice Department release.

The pair and their companies were being sued for alleged solicitation and reception of kickbacks from spinal implant companies in exchange for using those companies' products in surgeries.

The Anti-Kickback Statute makes it illegal to solicit or receive "anything of value" in return for referring products or services covered by federal health care programs.

The case took officials in numerous state and federal agencies and several whistleblowers the better part of a decade to build, U.S. Attorney Sayler Fleming said in the release.

"The U.S. Attorney's Office will always vigorously pursue anyone who fraudulently obtains taxpayer money and defrauds Medicare and Medicaid," Fleming said.

The settlement also resolves several claims brought under the whistleblower provisions of the False Claims Act by Paul Cairns, Dr. Terry Cleaver, Dr. Kyle Colle, Dr. Scott Gibbs, Dr. Paul Tolentino, Dr. Kevin Vaught and Daniel Henson.

The provision allows private parties to file an action on behalf of the U.S. to receive a portion of the recovery funds. The share to the private parties has not been decided, according to the release.

Fonn and Seeger were found guilty by a federal jury in a 2017 civil trial of submitting false and fraudulent Medicare and Medicaid claims. The court ordered the pair to pay a $5,500 to $11,000 statutory penalty for each of the 228 false claims. That ruling was later reversed by the Eighth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals, who remanded — sent back — the suit to the trial court in July, citing improper jury instruction.

The appellate court ruled the jury was not told it needed to find the alleged anti-kickback violations were the cause of Fonn's decision to use certain surgical items.