Surgeon To Pay $200,000 To Settle Medical Device Kickback Allegations

A Massachusetts surgeon who previously made news for missing a surgery because he fell asleep in a hospital parking lot has agreed to pay $200,000 to resolve allegations he participated in a kickback scheme with medical device manufacturer and distributer DePuy, the U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Massachusetts announced Friday.

Dr. Tony Tannoury of Andover admitted soliciting and receiving medical devices from DePuy Synthes, Inc. and DePuy Synthes Sales, Inc., referred to collectively as DePuy, in return for recommending and ordering their products for spine surgeries he performed on Medicare and Medicaid patients in Massachusetts in violation of the Anti-Kickback Statute. He used the free products for surgeries he performed in other countries, including the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia , Lebanon and Qatar .

In January 2023, DePuy agreed to pay approximately $9.75 million for its role in the scheme.

“Physicians violate the law when they solicit and receive free goods from medical device manufacturers. Unlawful kickbacks like these can corrupt medical judgment and creates an uneven playing field for companies that play by the rules,” Acting U.S. Attorney Joshua S. Levy said in a statement.

As part of the settlement, Tannoury admitted that from at least July 2016 through February 2018, he received free products from DePuy worth over $100,000, including cages, rods, screws, plates and modular access and retraction systems, and used them in at least five surgeries he performed in other countries. Meanwhile, he used DePuy products in surgeries he performed in Boston, including for Medicare and Medicaid beneficiaries.

The Anti-Kickback Statute (AKS) prohibits offering, paying, soliciting, or receiving remuneration to induce referrals of items or services covered by Medicare and other federally funded programs. The statute is intended to prevent medical decisions being compromised by improper financial incentives.

"Improper financial arrangements can compromise medical judgment and adversely influence the medical decision-making process. These types of arrangements have no place in our health care system, and we will continue working together with our federal and state law enforcement partners to pursue such allegations," said Roberto Coviello, Special Agent in Charge of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services , Office of Inspector General.

“Today’s settlement resolves allegations that Dr. Tony Tannoury solicited and received illegal kickbacks, and in doing so, used his patients as pawns,” said Jodi Cohen, Special Agent in Charge of the Federal Bureau of Investigations, Boston Division. “Health care fraud has serious costs, and serious consequences, and the FBI will continue to make investigations like this a priority as we work to deter this behavior.”

Tannoury made headlines in 2021 after admitting to the Massachusetts Board of Registration in Medicine that he had missed an emergency ankle surgery in 2016. The director of spine services at Boston Medical Center had escorted a patient into the operating room as the attending surgeon, then left to eat lunch in his parked car and fell asleep, missing the surgery.

—TMX contributed to this report.