A judge has rejected a plea agreement that would have sent Chicago surgeon Mark Weinberger, MD, — nicknamed "The Nose Doctor" — to prison for four years on 22 counts of fraud, according to a Chicago Tribune report.
U.S. District Judge Phillip Simon rejected the plea agreement in Hammond, Ind., saying the insurance fraud totaling $318,000 likely does not encompass all of Dr. Weinberger's alleged crimes.
Facing hundreds of malpractice suits and a federal probe on his ear, nose and throat practice in Merillville, Ind., Dr. Weinberger disappeared in 2004 and left his wife, 5-story Chicago home, yacht and debt behind. He was arrested five years later when Italian authorities found him camping in the foothills of the Alps.
Dr. Weinberger faces more than 300 civil lawsuits claiming he performed unnecessary operations and overbilled patients to fund an extravagantly lavish lifestyle. Civil suits allege the physician performed dozens of surgeries a day, with some taking as little as 25 minutes in the operating room. Patients claim he used an outdated procedure where he would drill small holes in patients' sinuses and allegedly bill patients' insurance for more lengthy operations. Patients' symptoms often worsened after surgery.
Read the Chicago Tribune report about Mark Weinberger.
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U.S. District Judge Phillip Simon rejected the plea agreement in Hammond, Ind., saying the insurance fraud totaling $318,000 likely does not encompass all of Dr. Weinberger's alleged crimes.
Facing hundreds of malpractice suits and a federal probe on his ear, nose and throat practice in Merillville, Ind., Dr. Weinberger disappeared in 2004 and left his wife, 5-story Chicago home, yacht and debt behind. He was arrested five years later when Italian authorities found him camping in the foothills of the Alps.
Dr. Weinberger faces more than 300 civil lawsuits claiming he performed unnecessary operations and overbilled patients to fund an extravagantly lavish lifestyle. Civil suits allege the physician performed dozens of surgeries a day, with some taking as little as 25 minutes in the operating room. Patients claim he used an outdated procedure where he would drill small holes in patients' sinuses and allegedly bill patients' insurance for more lengthy operations. Patients' symptoms often worsened after surgery.
Read the Chicago Tribune report about Mark Weinberger.
Related Articles on Physicians and Fraud:
North Carolina Pain Management Physician Pleads Guilty to Healthcare Fraud
Texas Oral Surgeon Acquitted in Medicaid Fraud Case
10 Fraud and Kickback Cases Involving Physicians