Aetna Life Insurance Co. was awarded $51.4 million to recover excessive health care fees it said it paid to Humble Surgical Hospital during the past seven years.

The judgment, which includes nearly $10 million in interest, was signed last week by U.S. District Judge Lynn Hughes.

Aetna sued Humble Surgical Hospital in 2012, contending that the five-bed surgical center in Humble charged the giant health insurance company for procedures up to 10 times more than typical market rates.

An out-patient fee for ear wax removal, for example, was nearly $100,000, according to the lawsuit, and bunion removal ranged between $46,000 and $74,000.

The hospital is not in Aetna's managed care network, and Aetna accused the surgical center of attracting its patients by offering special discounts.

Typically, health care patients pay more when they use facilities and providers outside of a health insurance company's managed care network. The higher costs are designed to encourage patients to use facilities that negotiated lower fees for service in exchange for increased patient volume.

Aetna alleged Humble Surgical charged its patients out-of-pocket fees similar to what in-network facilities would charge, but then the hospital billed Aetna for the procedures as an out-of-network provider.

The "sidebar deals" the surgical center made with patients as an inducement meant the surgical center received a "substantial windfall," according to Aetna's 2012 lawsuit.

Adam Chambers, the Houston lawyer representing Humble Surgical, said his client will appeal the ruling, made by Hughes before the case ever got to a jury. Chambers said other courts have ruled in favor of health care providers in similar cases, including one involving Humble Surgical in a dispute involving Cigna.

Humble Surgical will file an appeal soon, he said.