The $750-an-Hour “Consulting” That Bought a Surgeon

A spinal-implant company paid a surgeon $500–$750 an hour in sham consulting fees tied to how many of its devices he used — then both men worked to obstruct the investigation. Convicted; over $1.3M forfeited between them.

Between late 2012 and October 2015, SpineFrontier and its CEO and CFO paid surgeon Jason Montone $379,000 under a sham consulting program paying $500 to $750 per hour, with his pay tracking his sales volume regardless of how much consulting he actually did. Montone claimed hundreds of hours evaluating products and educating residents but performed only a small fraction of that time. He also took 10 percent of revenue on surgeries using the implants.

Distributor John Balzer received a 25 percent commission on revenue from Montone’s use of SpineFrontier products — over $1.2 million in commissions. Both men also engaged in conduct aimed at obstructing the federal investigation.

Montone pleaded guilty to Anti-Kickback conspiracy and obstruction; Balzer to Anti-Kickback conspiracy and witness tampering. SpineFrontier’s CEO and CFO also pleaded guilty in related cases. VA OIG, HHS OIG, FBI and the Postal Inspection Service investigated.

"the program and the kickbacks paid pursuant to that program were used to induce and reward"
— U.S. Attorney’s Office, District of Massachusetts; VA OIG Criminal Investigative Updates

Source: U.S. Attorney’s Office, District of Massachusetts; VA OIG Criminal Investigative Updates. Case file in the VA Fraud case files — part of the VA Fraud record. Cases are published as the courts decided them; amounts are stated as the Justice Department states them (billed, stolen, or ordered in restitution, as labeled).