The board cited five cases of Lerman \u2014 who has been named in multiple civil federal racketeering lawsuits, alleging he conspired with others to collect millions in insurance payouts for bogus accident claims \u2014 performing “highly invasive” surgeries without medical justification,\u00a0questionable “billing irregularities” and inadequate medical record keeping.<\/p>\n
Surgeries ‘not medically necessary’<\/p>\n
In mid-August, Lerman filed a petition<\/a> in state court in Schenectady County seeking to annul the state\u2019s denial, which his attorneys described as “arbitrary, capricious and unlawful” because it relied on “vague and unproven allegations drawn from unrelated and pending private civil litigation.”<\/p>\n WHAT NEWSDAY FOUNDAn upstate judge has rejected a request from a Long Island orthopedic surgeon to reinstate his ability to treat patients with workers\u2019 compensation claims, records show.The state Workers’ Compensation Board last year rejected a petition\u00a0by Dr. Vadim Lerman\u00a0allowing him to seek reimbursement for the treatment of injured workers. Lerman had appealed the decision.Lerman, the associate director of spine surgery at Total Orthopedics & Sports Medicine, has been named in multiple RICO suits alleging he participated in an alleged scheme to treat individuals involved in staged accidents.<\/p>\n But last week, Schenectady County Supreme Court Justice Thomas Buchanan rejected Lerman\u2019s petition, noting the board had identified a “pattern of premature or contraindicated recommendations for invasive surgery with potential adverse consequences for patients.”<\/p>\n While Lerman’s petition complained the board banned\u00a0him for “administrative technicalities,” Buchanan wrote “the bulk of the reasons given for denial of petitioner’s renewal focus squarely on patient safety and care. The denial letter repeatedly notes actions proposed by petitioner that if approved would have exposed patients to specified health risks without adequate justification, as well as petitioner’s involvement in surgical procedures that were not medically necessary and exposed patients to unwarranted health risks.”<\/p>\n A board spokesman declined to comment on the decision.<\/p>\n Mickey Keane, Lerman’s Great Neck-based\u00a0attorney, said they disagree with Buchanan’s conclusions and plan to appeal.<\/p>\n “Importantly, however, the decision itself acknowledges that there has been no harm to patient care, that Dr. Lerman did not perform any procedures without proper authorization, and that no patients lodged complaints,” Keane said.<\/p>\n Medical providers are required to reapply for authorization with the board every two or three years, in line with their state Education Department license renewal.<\/p>\n The NUMC connection<\/p>\n Lerman is a board-certified orthopedic spinal surgeon who also helps operate Total Orthopedics & Sports Medicine. The firm, which has four Long Island locations, also runs the Orthopedics Department at Nassau University Medical Center, a safety net public hospital where many of the allegedly unnecessary surgeries were performed.<\/p>\n Court records reviewed by Newsday allege\u00a0surgeons at Total Orthopedics see patients \u2014 typically litigants in lawsuits stemming from alleged accidents in Brooklyn, Queens and the Bronx \u2014 and then direct them to spinal surgery at NUMC in East Meadow, which they or their colleagues later perform.<\/p>\n Those surgeries are often performed on individuals without insurance, so the costs of the expensive procedures are absorbed by the hospital, which is more than $1 billion in debt<\/a>, records show.<\/p>\n In November, NUMC’s newly configured state-led board of directors launched an investigatory review<\/a> of all surgical cases performed by Total Orthopedics surgeons, amid plans to reduce the company’s outsized role in its orthopedics department.<\/p>\n Lerman, hospital officials said,\u00a0has not held medical staff privileges at NUMC, allowing him to treat patients there, since June 19, 2025. <\/p>\n \u201cSince the arrival of new leadership at Nassau University Medical Center, none of the physicians in question have treated patients at NUMC,” the hospital said in a statement. “We are conducting a thorough review of the matter. While some physicians affiliated with Total Orthopedics continue to practice at NUMC, they are not implicated in these matters. NUMC remains committed to the highest standards of patient care, clinical integrity, and compliance with all applicable laws and regulations.\u201d<\/p>\n Total Orthopedics did not respond to a request for comment.<\/p>\n Lerman is not the first Long Island surgeon\u00a0accused of participating in a staged accident scheme to be barred by the board from treating patients \u2014 or to challenge and, ultimately, fail\u00a0to have the court reverse the decision.<\/p>\n In April 2025,\u00a0the board rejected an application by Dr. Joseph Weinstein, an orthopedic surgeon from Valley Stream\u00a0associated with Comprehensive Orthopedic & Spine Care, that would have allowed him to continue treating patients with workers’ compensation claims. Weinstein has been named as a defendant in multiple staged accident RICO suits.<\/p>\n
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