NuVasive Inc agrees to pay $13.5 million to resolve false claims probe

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - California-based medical device manufacturer NuVasive Inc. has agreed to pay $13.5 million to resolve allegations that it caused healthcare providers to submit false claims to Medicare and other federal health programs for spine surgeries, the Justice Department said on Thursday. The company had marketed its CoRoent System to the providers for surgical uses that were not approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, the department said. NuVasive also paid kickbacks to physicians for using the CoRoent System, the department said. The settlement did not determine liability. (Reporting by Lindsay Dunsmuir; Editing by Lisa Lambert)