SOUTH BEND, Ind. (AP) _ A Texas company and an Elkhart spinal surgeon accused by the U.S. Justice Department of being involved in a kickback scheme have agreed to pay a $2.6 million settlement.

The settlement announced Friday involves payments that Omni Surgical, doing business as Spine 360, made between 2007 and 2009 to an entity controlled by Dr. Jamie Gottlieb. Although the payments were purportedly involved of intellectual property agreements, the Justice Department contended the agreements were shams, and the payments were intended to pay Gottlieb for using the company's products.

A federal law restricts the financial relationships that medical device manufacturers may have with doctors who use or prescribe their products.

Messages seeking comment were left Friday at Omni Surgical and at Gottlieb's the answering service