Bloomfield Hills doctor sentenced in fraud scheme involving unnecessary surgeries

Dr. Aria Sabit sentenced to 235 months in prison

BLOOMFIELD HILLS, Mich. – A Bloomfield Hills neurosurgeon was sentenced Sunday to 235 months -- or, 19 years and 7 months -- for in prison for his role in a $2.8 million health care fraud scheme in which he caused serious bodily harm to patients by performing unnecessary invasive spinal surgeries on them.

Victims from Michigan and California filled a federal courtroom Monday, sharing stories of being brutalized during botched or unnecessary spinal surgeries.

Victims were in tears while they told a judge to lock up Dr. Aria Sabit and throw away the key.

"I don't think he deserves parole," said victim Dawn Stewart. "He has shown no remorse at all."

Sabit pleaded guilty to fraud involving uneccesary surgeries for profit.

Kevin Reynolds' mother was a victim, and he came from California, where Sabit used to work and surrendered his license to practice medicine after complaints.

"(He) left the state with 28 lawsuits," Reynolds said. "You would think the medical board would contact Michigan. It's just sickening and outright disgusting on every single level."

Sabit set up shop in Michigan, obtaining privileges to practice at local hospitals. Victims feel betrayed by hospitals that failed to go through background checks.

"Why hasn't their feet been put to the fire for what he did?" said victim Harvey Turner.

Sabit whispered "I'm sorry" to several victims in the courtroom.

"As I was walking away from the podium, he said he was sorry," said Angela Martin, whose daughter is a victim. "No he is not. He is still from jail. His attorneys are still suing my daughter's insurance company, trying to collect for the butcher job he did."

The judge said Sabit made money taking illegal kickbacks and performing unnecessary surgery, calling his actions cruel and unusual before sentencing the doctor to nearly 20 years behind bars.

From the Department of Justice:

Aria O. Sabit M.D., 43, of Birmingham, pleaded guilty to four counts of health care fraud, one count of conspiracy to commit health care fraud and one count of unlawful distribution of a controlled substance, resulting in losses to Medicare, Medicaid and various private insurance companies.

Sabit was a licensed neurosurgeon who owned and operated the Michigan Brain and Spine Physicians Group, which had various locations in the Eastern District of Michigan.

In connection with his guilty plea, Sabit admitted that he convinced patients to undergo spinal fusion surgeries with "instrumentation" (medical devices designed to stabilize and strengthen the spine) that he never performed and billed public and private healthcare benefit programs for those fraudulent services.

Sabit further admitted that, in some instances, he operated on patients and dictated in his operative reports – which he knew would later be used to support fraudulent insurance claims -- that he had performed spinal fusion with instrumentation, when he had not.

Specifically, Sabit fraudulently billed public and private health care programs for instrumentation when, in fact, he used cortical bone dowels made of tissue.

Sabit failed to render services in relation to lumbar and thoracic fusion surgeries, including in certain instances, billing for implants that were not provided.

Before moving to Michigan, Sabit was a resident of Ventura, California, and a licensed neurosurgeon in California. Sabit admitted that, in approximately February 2010, while he was on the staff of a California hospital, he became involved with Apex Medical Technologies LLC (Apex), which was owned by another neurosurgeon and three non-physicians.

In exchange for the opportunity to invest in Apex and share in its profits, Sabit agreed to convince his hospital to buy spinal implant devices from Apex and to use a substantial number of Apex spinal implant devices in his surgical procedures. Sabit further admitted that he and Apex’s co-owners concealed Sabit’s involvement in Apex from the hospitals and surgical centers.

In connection with his guilty plea, Sabit admitted that the financial incentives provided to him by Apex and his co-conspirators caused him to use more spinal implant devices than were medically necessary to treat his patients in order to generate more sales revenue for Apex, which resulted in serious bodily injury to his patients. Sabit also admitted that, on a few occasions, the money he made from using Apex spinal implant devices motivated him either to refer patients for unnecessary spine surgeries or for more complex procedures that they did not need.

Sabit also is a defendant in two civil False Claims Act cases brought by the Justice Department in the Central District of California. These cases remain pending.

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About the Authors:

Derick is the Lead Digital Editor for ClickOnDetroit and has been with Local 4 News since April 2013. Derick specializes in breaking news, crime and local sports.