In May 2018, a relator filed a qui tam complaint against CHI Franciscan Health Care Systems (CHI) in Washington. The lawsuit alleged that from January 2013 to June 2018, orthopedic surgeon Dr. Kevin Schoenfelder had been performing medically unnecessary spinal surgeries. The surgeries were billed to Medicare, TRICARE, and VA. CHI will pay $745,654 and Scheonfelder will pay $197,054 to resolve the matter. Schoenfelder retired in 2018 and surrendered his physician license in 2019. The case was investigated by the VA OIG, Department of Health and Human Services OIG, Defense Criminal Investigative Service, and the Department of Justice.
