Long Island surgeon Vadim Lerman still barred from treating workers' comp patients

An upstate New York court has rejected a request by a Long Island spinal surgeon to reinstate his ability to treat patients with workers’ compensation claims, records show.

In April 2025, the state Workers’ Compensation Board informed Dr. Vadim Lerman, associate director of spine surgery at Total Orthopedics & Sports Medicine, that it was rejecting his renewal application to allow him to seek reimbursement for the treatment of injured workers.

The board cited five cases of Lerman — 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 — performing "highly invasive" surgeries without medical justification, questionable "billing irregularities" and inadequate medical record keeping.

Surgeries 'not medically necessary'

In mid-August, Lerman filed a petition in state court in Schenectady County seeking to annul the state’s 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."

But last week, Schenectady County Supreme Court Justice Thomas Buchanan rejected Lerman’s petition, noting the board had identified a "pattern of premature or contraindicated recommendations for invasive surgery with potential adverse consequences for patients."

While Lerman's petition complained the board banned him 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."

A board spokesman declined to comment on the decision.

Mickey Keane, Lerman's Great Neck-based attorney, said they disagree with Buchanan's conclusions and plan to appeal.

"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.

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.

The NUMC connection

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.

Court records reviewed by Newsday allege surgeons at Total Orthopedics see patients — typically litigants in lawsuits stemming from alleged accidents in Brooklyn, Queens and the Bronx — and then direct them to spinal surgery at NUMC in East Meadow, which they or their colleagues later perform.

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, records show.

In November, NUMC's newly configured state-led board of directors launched an investigatory review of all surgical cases performed by Total Orthopedics surgeons, amid plans to reduce the company's outsized role in its orthopedics department.

Lerman, hospital officials said, has not held medical staff privileges at NUMC, allowing him to treat patients there, since June 19, 2025.

“Since 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.”

Total Orthopedics did not respond to a request for comment.

Lerman is not the first Long Island surgeon accused of participating in a staged accident scheme to be barred by the board from treating patients — or to challenge and, ultimately, fail to have the court reverse the decision.

In April 2025, the board rejected an application by Dr. Joseph Weinstein, an orthopedic surgeon from Valley Stream associated 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.

Weinstein appealed the board’s decision, arguing it was "riddled with inaccuracies and false conclusions and ignore or overlook pertinent patient records and treatment history." He also alleged the board's actions were "part of a broader campaign" initiated by insurance companies that filed the RICO cases in New York's Eastern District.

But in March, Buchanan, the same judge who rejected Lerman's application, denied Weinstein's petition, arguing "the sinister implications asserted by petitioner simply do not find support in the record."

By Robert Brodsky

robert.brodsky@newsday.com@BrodskyRobert

Robert Brodsky is a breaking news reporter who has worked at Newsday since 2011. He is a Queens College and American University alum.