Health Care Fraud and Abuse: Lessons From One of the Largest Scandals of the 21st Century in the Field of Spine Surgery.

Up to hundreds of billions of dollars are annually lost to fraud and abuse in the US health care, making it a significant burden on the system. This study investigates a specific instance of health care fraud in spine surgery, in which a medical device company ended up paying $75 million to settle violations of the False Claims Act. We review the surgical background regarding the kyphoplasty procedure, as well as its billing and reimbursement details.