HUDSON, Fla. — In March, the state filed an emergency suspension order against the surgery center at the Bonati Spine Institute in Hudson, FL… saying it put patients’ health, safety and welfare at risk.
That center is licensed as the Medical Development Corporation of Pasco County, Inc., which was closed on March 14 after an inspection by the Agency for Healthcare Administration (AHCA).
Records indicate the clinic’s owner, Dr. Alfred Bonati, has millions of dollars in malpractice settlements and was disciplined by the Florida Board of Medicine multiple times.
The ABC Action News I-Team is digging into Bonati’s record and hears from an attorney who believes the state is failing to protect the public by allowing him to continue to operate.
Depositions outline Dr. Bonati’s history
In a 2020 video deposition, Dr. Alfred Bonati testified he was born in Chile in 1939 and attended medical school in Spain.
He lists multiple hospitals and medical schools in the United States where he received training in the 1970s and early 1980s, including Bowman-Gray Medical School at Wake Forest University, the University of Alabama Hospital and Georgetown University Hospital.
Bonati testifies that he opened the Bonati Institute in Hudson, Florida, in 1981, where he trains a team of surgeons who perform minimally invasive back surgeries.
“I am the one who developed the technique for spine surgery,” Bonati testified in the deposition.
The Bonati Institute website says, “The Bonati Spine Institute is where advanced spine surgery was pioneered and perfected by Dr. Alfred Bonati.”
Bonati is listed as “Chief Orthopaedic Surgeon” on his company’s website, but he admits in the deposition that he failed the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons’ board certification exam at least twice.
The Florida Department of Health doesn’t require specialty certifications, and the health department’s website says Bonati doesn’t have any specialty certifications that the state recognizes.
Surgeries at the Bonati Spine Institute can cost tens of thousands of dollars.
According to documents obtained by the I-Team, Bonati’s medical and business enterprises generated approximately $2.5 million dollars per month in gross revenue in 2022.
Bonati said in the 2020 deposition he performed about 10 surgeries in an average week.
Thousands of surgeries, multiple locations
“We have around 55,000 or more procedures performed,” Bonati said in a 2017 video posted on YouTube by the non-profit organization Las Vegas Heals, celebrating the opening of another Bonati Spine Institute.
According to Bonati’s website, that number has increased to 75,000 procedures.
Bonati doesn’t have a medical license in Nevada, according to the Nevada State Board of Medical Examiner, but he opened a second location in Las Vegas in 2017.
The Las Vegas facility closed in 2021.
Emergency suspension order served
The State of Florida closed the Bonati Spine Institute’s surgery center in March, serving an emergency suspension order that says an unlicensed surgical technologist “applied sutures” and “a surgical drain” without a surgeon in the room.
Dr. Bonati told the I-Team that a surgeon only needs to be in the building to directly supervise a technologist, not in the same room.
An administrative complaint alleges investigators were told an unlicensed technologist “performed an entire spinal surgery.”
Dr. Bonati disputes that that ever happened.
Bonati’s attorneys filed a motion with the Florida Court of Appeals to lift the suspension, saying “an ESO that puts nearly 100 employees out of work without any allegation of any actual or potential harm to any patients is simply too harsh a remedy. “
The court sided with the state, leaving the suspension in place.
Attorney Nicole Kruegelhas sued Bonati at least three times since 2018 and reached settlements in those cases.
“They were all very similar cases involving complications during surgery which led to some very serious problems that were not addressed correctly, and my clients were devastatingly injured as a result,” Kreugel said.
In various court papers, Dr. Bonati responded that he did not cause the patients’ injuries, that the patient’s own negligence was a factor and he denied allegations of wrongdoing.
No hospital privileges
Bonati currently has no privileges in any hospital, according to the Florida Department of Health.
“No hospital has allowed him to do surgery in many, many years within their walls. But because of the way that the laws are written, he can just open up a surgery center,” Kruegel said.
The Bonati Institute’s surgery center is licensed for ambulatory care.
State law prevents patients from spending more than 24 hours in an ambulatory care center.
On the Bonati Institute website, it states, “outpatient/no hospital stay is necessary."
The website says, “If you are an out-of-state patient or live more than an hour away from The Bonati Spine Institute we have attached a list of hotels offering discounts to Bonati Spine Institute patients in the immediate area available for rent on a weekly or monthly basis.”
In a 2020 deposition, Bonati said nurses visit them and medical transports have taken patients to local hotels after surgery “if it is necessary.”
We contacted patients who filed suit against Bonati, but none agreed to an interview.
“We’re bound by a confidentiality agreement where most of my clients can’t talk about what happened to them, let alone that there was a lawsuit and a settlement,” Kruegel said.
Florida’s “Three Strikes” medical malpractice law
In 2004, Florida voters passed a constitutional amendment nicknamed the “Three Strikes Law,” which says the Florida Board of Medicine “shall not license or continue to license a medical doctor found to have committed repeated medical malpractice.”
But settled cases don’t count as strikes.
“Most cases don’t go to trial. There’s not a verdict. There’s no admission of liability. There’s no finding of liability,” Kruegel said.
We found on the Florida Office of Financial Regulation website that Bonati has settled 10 malpractice cases totaling more than 2.5 million dollars. A 2022 bankruptcy filing shows an additional settlement agreement of more than $5.1 million dollars.
Bonati has repeatedly been disciplined by the Florida Board of Medicine.
To settle medical board cases, Bonati has paid fines, received reprimands and agreed to have his cases reviewed by another surgeon.
“When you put a case in front of the medical board, it’s a board of your peers. And while they’re supposed to be protecting the citizens of Florida and the victims of malpractice, in most cases, they’re there to protect the physician,” Kruegel said.
The Florida Department of Health website lists 17 discipline cases and five public complaints for Dr. Bonati.
Bonati has never had his medical license suspended or revoked.
“He’s gone on for decades and whenever anyone’s tried to hold him accountable, they’ve failed,” Kruegel said.
Bonati agreed to do an interview with us about the closure of the surgery center.
He and his attorney met with us here for more than an hour but have twice canceled on-camera interviews, citing the ongoing AHCA case.
Bonati’s attorney says the surgery center has submitted a plan of correction to AHCA and is waiting for the state to sign and return it so that the facility can reopen.
You can check out any Florida licensed physician’s education, disciplinary history and other information through the Florida Department of Health License Verification website.
If you have a story you’d like the I-Team to investigate, email us at adam@abcactionnews.com
