Federal agency issues 'fraud alert' about physician-owned distributorships

The Health and Human Services Inpector General said these commercial ventures, which are widespread in the fields of orthepedic and spine surgery, are "inherently suspect."  

The Wall Street Journal: Warning Over Doctor-Run Groups
A federal agency issued a special fraud alert about physician-owned distributorships-;commercial entities run by doctors that have proliferated in the fields of orthopedic and spine surgery-;calling them "inherently suspect" and warning they "pose dangers to patient safety" (Carreyrou, 3/26).

Bloomberg: Doctor-Owned Device Suppliers Deemed Inherently Suspect
Doctor-owned businesses that act as middlemen between medical device makers and hospitals are "inherently suspect" and some of their practices may violate U.S. anti-kickback laws, a government inspector general said. Daniel Levinson, the inspector general for the Health and Human Services Department, today issued an unusual "special fraud alert" about so-called physician-owned distributorships, or PODs (Wayne, 3/26).