Orthopedic ASC shuttered after unlicensed physician allegedly performed surgery

The ASC at Hudson, Fla.-based Bonati Spine Institute has been shut down after the state suspended its license, the Tampa Bay Times reported March 17.

Here is what ASC leaders need to know:

1. According to Florida healthcare regulators, a certified surgical technologist, rather than a licensed physician, was performing procedures. The ASC allegedly knowingly allowed the unlicensed person to perform procedures. 

2. The regulators alleged "immediate danger to patients," according to the report. The ASC allegedly "knew or should have known of alleged unlicensed surgical practice … but has demonstrated no action to even investigate the repeated allegations."

3. According to a 13-page emergency order, problems at the ASC "span perhaps years." For example, the agency fined the ASC $1,000 in 2021 after the facility took no steps to alert the state health department to a COVID-19 outbreak. 

4. "We vehemently disagree with AHCA’s contentions," Scott Flint, the practice's attorney, told the Times. "We look forward to vindicating Medical Development Corp. and its employees in court. Other than that, we won't be commenting on any ongoing litigation."

5. Alfred Bonati, MD, surgeon and founder of the Bonati Spine Institute, has faced multiple disciplinary cases over the last two decades, the report said.

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