A respected New York spine surgeon is being ordered to pay the government almost $400,000 to settle charges he overbilled Medicare.

Federal Justice Department officials said Wednesday that Richard S. Obedian inflated reimbursements by using incorrect billing codes

Assistant Attorney General Stuart Delery says the Long Island orthopedic surgeon submitted the false claims throughout 2005.

Obedian must pay $388,000.

A graduate of Columbia University medical school, he was a fellow at New York's Hospital for Special Surgery before practicing on Long Island for about the past dozen years.

Obedian was seeing patients Wednesday and not immediately available for comment.