Cape Girardeau neurosurgeon's fraud case sent back for retrial

An appellate panel said Tuesday it has remanded, or sent back, to the trial court a civil case against Cape Girardeau neurosurgeon Sonjay Fonn, D.O., and his then-fiancee, Deborah Seeger, citing improper jury instruction.

A ruling from the Eighth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals reversed a nearly $5.5 million Medicare and Medicaid fraud judgment from 2017, including fines and damages, against the couple.

According to U.S. District Court, Eastern District of Missouri, Fonn used implants during as many as 228 spinal fusion surgeries that were obtained from a distributorship business started by Seeger.

Many of Fonn's patients, the court determined, had coverage through federal insurance coverage known as Medicare and Medicaid.

The trial court alleged Seeger "typically received" 50% commissions on the implants Fonn used -- meaning Fonn's treatment choices directly impacted his fiancee's distributorship income.

Seeger, the original court said, spent some of the income received to benefit Fonn "through home improvements, a Sea Lion yacht and many other purchases and expenditures," finding the couple's conduct violated the Anti-Kickback statute -- a federal law prohibiting health care providers from making patient referrals in exchange for any direct or indirect benefits.

Tuesday's ruling

The Eighth Circuit ruled the jury should have been told -- and was not -- it needed to find the alleged anti-kickback violations were the cause of Fonn's decision to use certain surgical items.

Curtis O. Poore, attorney with Cape Girardeau's The Limbaugh Firm was involved in the early stages of the case.

Poore told the Southeast Missourian "the judgment was based on a jury instruction that used the wrong burden of proof (and) it appears to me the two counts dismissed were done so without prejudice -- meaning they could be pursued at a retrial if the government elects to try the case again."