Accura Scope and North American Spine (Another Scam Exposed)

[ADR seeker]

Doctor accused of lying to patients, hiding assets

Doctor accused of lying to patients, hiding assets
Lawrence Rothstein, the target of 19 malpractice suits, files bankruptcy.

DAYTON — When John Fouts was considering laser spine surgery to correct his back pain, he attended one of Dr. Lawrence Rothstein’s group sales meetings.

Rothstein told his guests that the operation, using the technique he invented, was nearly no-risk, and that no patient had ever been left in worse condition after the surgery, according to a lawsuit Fouts filed April 15.

“In reality, defendant Rothstein has had multiple malpractice claims against him as a result of this procedure where patients had catastrophic injuries,” according to Fouts’ complaint.

Fouts of Palmyra, Ind., had the surgery in April 2009. He is now one of 19 Rothstein patients with medical malpractice cases pending in Montgomery County Common Pleas Court.

One was to go trial Tuesday, July 6, and others have trial dates, but all have been stayed following Rothstein’s bankruptcy filing last week.

Rothstein has settled at least three cases and lost two jury trials, including a $5 million judgment for Sally Clawson.

During a 2008 deposition, Rothstein acknowledged that his consent forms stated that he was the “only physician who performs this procedure” and no other doctor is qualified to render an opinion on it, said attorney Jay Kelley, who represented Clawson at trial.

Thirteen of the open cases were filed by attorneys with Gibson & O’Keefe. Gregory C. Gibson declined to comment on any pending litigation.

In his bankruptcy petition, filed last week, Rothstein lists two other cases, one in Hamilton County and one in Louisville.

In the Hamilton County case, Rothstein lost a $1.372 million judgment after a jury found he performed a surgical procedure that permanently maimed a patient.

“I don’t think the guy should be practicing,” said Dayton attorney Richard Schulte, immediate past president the Ohio Association for Justice, formerly the Ohio Academy of Trial Attorneys.

Schulte, who declined to represent several Rothstein patients because of collectibility concerns, said that both 19 open cases and a $5 million judgment would be “extremely rare. I would be deeply concerned he is going to hurt more people.”

Sallie Debolt, general counsel for the State Medical Board of Ohio, said she could not comment on whether the board had received or was investigating any complaints against Rothstein. That information is closed unless the board finds against the doctor, she said.

The laser surgery, called AccuraScope, is being marketed across the country. Rothstein, who is chief medical officer for North American Spine, which has offices in Dallas and Dayton, advertises in airline magazines and on the Internet.

Patients have come to Dayton to have the surgery from across the country and beyond. Plaintiffs who have filed against Rothstein come from Florida, North Carolina, Arizona and Saskatchewan.

Rothstein, 48, graduated from the Ohio State University College of Medicine. His website says he is board certified in anesthesia and pain medicine.

In 2001, he was arrested in a suburb of Columbus and charged with cocaine possession. He went into drug rehabilitation and his license was suspended from September 2001 until April 1, 2002. He remained on probation with the medical board until April 11, 2007, just weeks after Clawson’s second surgery.

Rothstein started the practice in 2006, originally located in the Riverview Health Institute at 1 Elizabeth Place, the former site of Franciscan Medical Center, according to a February 2009 Dayton Business Journal article. Rothstein now practices in Centerville.

Once known as Dayton Laser Spine, it became known as North American Spine, with financial headquarters in Dallas. The practice treated 400 people, using AccuraScope surgery, in 2008, which the DBJ article said “equates to about $11.8 million in revenue from that procedure alone.”

Months before the trial started, the Clawsons’ legal team learned that Rothstein did not have malpractice insurance.

Ohio law does not require insurance, but a doctor who does not have it must inform patients in writing and obtain a signed consent form prior to treatment in non-emergency cases. This did not happen in the Clawson case, according to Kelley.

In an affidavit filed in March, Rothstein claimed that he has entrusted his financial affairs to his brother, Steven M. Rothstein, an attorney, since July 2007 and that “at the time of Ms. Clawson’s claim, I learned for the first time that Riverview Health had not maintained my malpractice insurance for prior injuries.”

A more recent lawsuit claimed that Rothstein was insured by a “captive” company in the Cayman Islands, but charged that the Rothsteins had created the company to circumvent the Ohio law.

In May, Riverview Health Institute sued Steven Rothstein for legal malpractice. Steven Rothstein was paid an annual $50,000 retainer to give RHI legal advice from August 2007 until May 2009.

He was also representing his brother and “devised and implemented a legal plan to isolate the assets of Dr. Rothstein from all judgment creditors, thus leaving RHI as the only financially responsible party-defendant subject to pending joint and several malpractice claims.”

[mmglobal]

ADR Seeker... thanks for this post... very interesting. No insurance???

I moved this to the main forum where it will get more traffic. Please let us know if you hear any updates about this.

Mark

[ADR seeker]

The federal trade commission needs to shut these places down.

To file a complaint: Contact Us

[karen vineyard]

Really ?????, it's 2012 & you're speaking about cases from years ago & Dr. Rothstein is no longer associated w/ NAS. Don't get me wrong, I'm truely sorry for those who had less than optimal results. But, the Accurascope & NAS saved my life. As a long time critical care RN i know no surgery is w/o risk, no one ever thinks they'll be the % that doesn't do well. Yet, as i stated NAS saved me.It's been 2 yrs & every day I believe NAS was "my miracle". Prior to then i was off work for 11 months in constant pain w/ loss of right leg reflexes. I tried "everything"--epidurals, lumbar decompression, PT, acupuncture, massage, chiropractic, pain pills, muscle relaxants, ........( you get the picture). Then Accurascope L3-L4, L4-L5, L5-S1, DND. Three hours later I was having lunch pain free! Now I know at least 25 people from my Calif.that have traveled to TX for the Accurascope procedure & all are very happy they went to NAS. I went back to work in 2 weeks. And yes I'm back to doing the things I love to do- walking my 80 lb dog, river rafting, Zumba, traveling......

[mmglobal]

Karen, thanks for posting!!! Welcome to the forum.

Congratulations on your success. May the NAS surgery be the end of your career as a spine patient!

Your point is very well taken... Many of the finest surgeons have litigation against them. This is especially true for surgeons with new procedures that make them an easy target.

All the best,

Mark

[Maria]

When reading what ADR seeker wrote I was getting a very bad feeling about this doctor and the accura scope however then reading what Karen wrote which I can greatly appreciate as I was an RN/NP and retired early due to my back probs I got an entirely different perspective so I thank you both for presenting what you did ~

I know when I had my percutaneous discectomy back in '92 and it failed horribly really making me much worse.. someone else I knew had the same surgery w/same surgeon and had great results and went back to her daily routine in medical school and running practically right away!

I have always thought it's somewhat the luck of the draw with regard to results meaning if everything is done correctly and it's the right procedure for the right problem and the surgeon knows what he or she is doing .. sometimes things just don't go as well as hoped for/expected or other probs will ensue maybe because something was fixed even.

[ADR seeker]

Originally Posted by karen vineyard

Really ?????, it's 2012 & you're speaking about cases from years ago & Dr. Rothstein is no longer associated w/ NAS. Don't get me wrong, I'm truely sorry for those who had less than optimal results. But, the Accurascope & NAS saved my life. As a long time critical care RN i know no surgery is w/o risk, no one ever thinks they'll be the % that doesn't do well. Yet, as i stated NAS saved me.It's been 2 yrs & every day I believe NAS was "my miracle". Prior to then i was off work for 11 months in constant pain w/ loss of right leg reflexes. I tried "everything"--epidurals, lumbar decompression, PT, acupuncture, massage, chiropractic, pain pills, muscle relaxants, ........( you get the picture). Then Accurascope L3-L4, L4-L5, L5-S1, DND. Three hours later I was having lunch pain free! Now I know at least 25 people from my Calif.that have traveled to TX for the Accurascope procedure & all are very happy they went to NAS. I went back to work in 2 weeks. And yes I'm back to doing the things I love to do- walking my 80 lb dog, river rafting, Zumba, traveling......

Less than optimal results? OMFG! People have been maimed by them.

AccuraScope removes part of the annulus. The annulus is the hard part of the disk that keep the pulpulsus inside like the way a tire holds in air.

Let's say you have a bulge in a tire and that bulge is rubbing against the fender. An idiot mechanic would shave off some of the bulge and eventually the bulge would grow again until the is catastrophic failure.

A cheap fix would be to fix the bulge from the inside. The tire would not work quite as well but it would not explode

The best solution is to replace it.

Here are that patients are saying, "Accura Scope": Pain Management Community - Support Group