Schwitzer health news blog

Kickbacks to orthopedic surgeons

From Integrity in Science Watch, a publication of the Center for Science in the Public Interest:

"Nearly 50 orthopedic surgeons, many affiliated with the nation’s top teaching hospitals, each earned over $1 million a year in consulting contracts and royalties from the five companies that make artificial knees and hips. The payment disclosures were posted on the companies’ websites last week as part of a $311 million anti-kickback settlement between four of the firms and the U.S. attorney for northern New Jersey. The complaint had accused the companies of using consulting contracts as an illegal kickback scheme to get surgeons to use a particular company’s artificial joints. ...

With seniors accounting for nearly 70 percent of the knee and hip replacement market, Medicare spent $16 billion on the procedures last year. A typical knee replacement costs $33,000, according to Medicare records. A spokesman for Christopher J. Christie, the U.S. attorney in Newark, said the investigation into the alleged kickback scheme is ongoing."