In March 2023, the ASC at Hudson, Fla.-based Bonati Spine Institute was temporarily shut down after the state of Florida suspended its license.
Now the institute has filed a nine-count, $500 million complaint against the Florida Agency for Health Care Administration for civil rights abuses, state officials’ conspiracy, slander and libel, according to an April 4 report from the Tampa Free Press.
The state closed the ASC under allegations that a certified surgical technologist, rather than a licensed physician, was performing surgeries. The ASC allegedly knowingly allowed the unlicensed person to perform the procedures.
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.
Bonati's owner, surgeon Alfred Bonati, MD, has settled 10 malpractice cases totaling more than $2.5 million during his career, though he has never had his license revoked. Additionally, the Florida Department of Health website lists 17 discipline cases and five public complaints.
Dr. Bonati's lawsuit against the state claims that the state shut down his facility based on "false accusations and interference with continuing commercial connections in an attempt to harm the practice’s reputation."
"These allegations were not only knowingly false, but done in a deliberate effort to damage our facility and the reputation of our owner, Dr. Bonati," Kimberly Bonati, senior vice president of media and communications for the Bonati Spine Institute, told the Free Press. "A major piece of our success over the last 40 years has been the development of our unique approach to anesthesia where our patients remain awake and communicating with their surgeon throughout their surgical procedure. Because of this unique interaction between patient and surgeon, it would be impossible for anyone other than the patient’s surgeon to perform surgery in our facility."
Several of Bonati's surgeons and team members were credentialed at another area facility, where they continued treating patients while the ASC was closed.
According to the lawsuit, the FAHCA allegedly "harassed" employees at the area facility, prompting them to terminate relations with surgeons from the Bonati Spine Institute to avoid future harassment from the state.
Bonati is seeking $500 million for "suffer[ing] substantial damage in the form of lost revenue and reputational harm."
Becker's reached out to the FAHCA for comment, but the organization "does not comment on open and pending litigation."