St. Louis practice owes physician $1M+ after pay dispute

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A St. Louis County judge ordered Retina Associates of St. Louis to pay ophthalmologist Blonie Wayne Dudney, MD, $1.07 million in unpaid compensation, according to court documents accessed by Becker’s.

Here are five things to know:

1. Judge John Borbonus III entered the judgment Oct. 13. It awards Dr. Dudney $1,073,027 in unpaid compensation through Aug. 31, plus $211,999 in interest. The Florissant, Mo.-based practice must also pay court costs.

2. Dr. Dudney signed his employment agreement in April 2022. Signing it was a condition of the practice’s acquisition by an affiliate of MVP VIP Holdco, which included Dr. Dudney’s shares, according to his petition. MVP VIP Holdco does business as Vision Integrated Partners.

3. The agreement entitled Dr. Dudney to a percentage of the revenue the practice collected on retina drugs he injected. Court filings redact that percentage. According to Dr. Dudney’s filings, the practice paid him 2.4% of that revenue.

4. In two counterclaims, the practice argued that the contract entitled Dr. Dudney to 30% of drug profits rather than a share of revenue, or alternatively asked the court to correct what it called a “scrivener’s error” in the contract. The judge ruled for Dr. Dudney on both.

5. Dr. Dudney sued in January 2025. He initially claimed at least $690,480 in underpayments. He also sued Vision Integrated Partners, alleging it caused the underpayments, but voluntarily dropped that claim without prejudice Oct. 5.

Becker’s has reached out to Retina Associates of St. Louis and will update this story if more information becomes available.

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