Weather | Sports | Forums | Comics | Classifieds | Calendar | Movies
MELIA BOWIEThe surgeon says former employees are using minimally invasive methods he patented, despite an agreement.
Pasco back surgeon Dr. Alfred Bonati filed suit this week to stop several former employees he says took trade secrets and conspired to open a competing practice.
Bonati, a Hudson orthopedic surgeon both praised and critiqued for his unconventional methods, is seeking an emergency injunction in Pinellas County court. Named in the suit are two of his former surgeons, Dr. James S. St. Louis and Dr. Michael W. Perry.
Also named is Joe Samuel Bailey - former marketing consultant for the Bonati Institute, a glass-walled treatment center off U.S. 19 in Hudson.
The institute advertises its use of lasers and other "minimally invasive" techniques developed by Bonati to relieve people of their back and spine pain. It is an affiliate of Gulf Coast Orthopedic Center, located next door to the institute and also run by Bonati.
Bonati's 19-page legal complaint alleges his former employees violated noncompete agreements in their contracts by opening a new practice in St. Petersburg at 5000 Park St. N this May.
Called Laserscopic Spinal Centers of America, the practice bills itself as "the nation's premier surgical center for back and spine related injury and disease."
Among the benefits to patients: small incisions, no hospital stay, local anesthesia and rapid return to an active lifestyle, according to the group's Web site.
Bonati contends those perks are due to pilfered trade secrets that he developed and patented at "considerable cost."
His former employees "embarked upon a conspiracy to unlawfully compete," said Gary Shipman, Bonati's attorney. In particular, they "agreed to utilize the trade secret and other confidential information they had learned."
St. Louis, Perry and Bailey did not return phone calls this week from the St. Petersburg Times. Through an assistant at their new clinic, they declined to comment.
According to the injunction, St. Louis was hired by Bonati in May 2002 at about $280,000 a year. He issued a three-line resignation letter this February.
But prior to that he was trained to perform minimally invasive back surgery using Bonati's procedures and trade secrets, said the complaint.
Shipman added that "at the time (the center was) the only place in the world where the surgical procedures . . . were being taught."
Bailey was marketing director for the Bonati Institute from 1997 to 2001.
Perry, who was hired to work for Bonati in 1989, left in August.
The complaint alleges that while he was still employed by Bonati, Perry "was secretly working behind his employer's back to launch a competing spine surgery clinic with St. Louis, Bailey and other individuals."
The actions came despite signed noncompete agreements barring the men from starting ventures similar to Bonati's for five years and within a 500-mile radius, according to the suit.
In addition to the injunction, Bonati is seeking a court order demanding the men close their practice and stop using his procedures. Bonati also wants them to pay damages for his lost business, royalties on any procedures they have performed, legal fees and more.
During his lengthy history in Pasco, Bonati has treated thousands - including former NFL players - who credit him with relieving their unrelenting back pain.
He also has fended off contentions that he overbilled insurance companies, kept one-size-fits-all medical records and performed repeated surgeries on people who didn't need them.
In December 2002, he settled a long-running legal dispute with the Florida Board of Medicine via an agreement that required him to practice under another surgeon's supervision.
This latest clash comes after Bonati made a failed attempt in December 2003 to buy a bankrupt hospital in the Panhandle. He has since returned to Hudson.
Melia Bowie covers business in Pasco County. She can be reached in west Pasco at 869-6229, or toll-free at 1-800-333-7505, ext. 6229. Her e-mail address is bowie@sptimes.com