Feds: Oakland Neurosurgeon Defrauded Health-Care System of Millions of Dollars

A Bloomfield Hills neurosurgeon defrauded the Medicare-Medicaid system and a private insurer out of millions of dollars by performing unnecessary spinal surgeries on numerous patients – or not implanting a device intended to alleviate their pain at all – the government alleges in a complaint unsealed Monday in federal court.

Federal prosecutors allege Dr. Aria Sabit billed Medicaid, Medicare and Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan $32.8 million for the procedures. Of the $1.8 million he collected, $1.2 million came from Medicare and Medicaid programs, the Wall Street Journal said.

Sabit was arrested early Monday and made a brief appearance in U.S. District Court before he was ordered held without bond until Dec. 1. His arrest and the accusations against him, outlined in a 40-page complaint, come after lengthy investigation by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the U.S. Department of Justice, The Detroit News reports.

If convicted of the fraud allegations against him, the Afghan-born surgeon could spend 10 years in prison.

Similar Allegations in California

The Wall Street Journal reported last year that Sabit had an ownership interest in a company that distributed obscure devices the surgeon had a preference for in Ventura, CA, where he had practiced since 2009.

Use of the device was tragic for at least one California Medicare patient, who died from postoperative complications, according to a complaint filed when the Justice Department sued Sabit in September.

He subsequently surrendered his medical license in a settlement with California’s medical board.Before he did so, at least 28 patients had sued him for alleged negligent acts that included performing surgeries that were unnecessarily extensive or in which the surgeon misplaced the devices.

Feds: Citizenship Illegally Obtained

Sabit moved from California to Michigan in early 2011 and obtained his citizenship last year. The complaint alleges his citizenship was illegally obtained because he failed to disclose that he had knowingly committed health-care fraud in California.

Sabit was born in Kabul, Afghanistan, and fled with his family in 1979 during the Soviet invasion. He reportedly lived with his family in a tent in Pakistan for four years, then emigrated to the United States and settled in Arlington, VA.

He attended college and medical school at the Virginia Commonwealth University, completed his neurosurgery residency at the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey, and began practicing at Ventura’s Community Memorial Hospital in June 2009.

Within months, the hospital Ventura, CA, the hospital staff noticed “he suddenly developed a preference for an obscure brand of surgical implants for surgeries,” the Wall Street Journal said.

Four Patients at Center of Michigan Case

In Michigan, the government alleges Sabit intentionally misled four patients into thinking he fused their spinal vertebrae when he didn’t perform any surgery.

The alleged fraud was discovered when the patients sought second opinions.“Doctors who lie to their patients about the procedures they have undergone not only obtain funds by fraud, but, even worse, they put patients’ health at risk,” U.S. Attorney Barbara McQuade said, according to The Detroit News.

The government believes Sabit is a flight risk and asked that he be denied bail, citing an interview with the physician last fall at Atlanta’s Hartsfield International Airport. At the time, he was about to board a flight to Dubai, and U.S. Customs and Immigration officers found a ruby and a 3.6-carat emerald in his luggage. Sabit reportedly explained that he was involved in the mining business in Afghanistan.T

he complaint alleges Sabit used several businesses and medical practices in the commission of fraud, including Southfield-based Michigan Brain & Spine Physicians Group. He had medical privileges at Detroit Medical Center, Doctor’s Hospital of Michigan in Pontiac and McLaren Leeper Regional Medical Center.

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