Dozens of insurance companies in California are accusing 15 surgeons and 17 hospitals nationwide of conspiring with a company called Spinal Solutions to "insidiously comingle fake implantable (spinal) hardware with genuine" parts, and implant them in patients, according to news reports.

Scott Lederhaus, MD, a California spinal surgeon and the president of the Association of Medical Ethics, reviewed the civil complaint and tells Aljazeera America that thousands of patients may have had counterfeit screws and parts implanted.

The accused surgeons were allegedly paid kickbacks after entering into what the suit refers to as "sham design and development agreement(s)" with Spinal Solutions, which in turn provided them with cash, free air travel, meals, vacations and other forms of entertainment, in exchange for referring patients to hospitals where the fake parts were implanted, according to the complaint.

Hospitals in Nevada, California, Texas, Wisconsin and Maryland are alleged to have "turned a blind eye" to the scheme, so they could inappropriately bill insurance companies.

Jim Burger