Jury Award in Spinal Implant Kickback Suit Tossed on Appeal

A new trial is required to determine whether a Missouri neurosurgeon and his fiancee—the owner of a spinal implant distributor—violated the False Claims Act by engaging in a scheme to bill the government for spinal implants tainted by kickbacks, the Eighth Circuit ruled Tuesday.

The Missouri district court trebled the damages awarded by the jury to nearly $5.5 million against Sonjay Fonn, who allegedly used implants distributed by DS Medical, which is wholly owned by his fiancee Deborah Seeger.

But the district court improperly failed to instruct the jury that there must be a but-for causal connection between an Anti-Kickback ...