MIAMI — The Florida doctor charged in a political corruption case along with Senator Robert Menendez of New Jersey was charged on Tuesday in a 76-count indictment. Prosecutors accused him of a Medicare fraud that they said sought to cheat the health care program of as much as $190 million.
The
United States attorney for Miami, Wifredo Ferrer, said Dr. Salomon E.
Melgen, 61, was indicted on 46 counts of health care fraud as well as
additional charges of filing false claims and making false statements.
Dr. Melgen is an ophthalmologist with offices in Palm Beach and St.
Lucie Counties.
The
indictment charges that Dr. Melgen operated a fraud scheme from 2004 to
2013, in which he billed Medicare for more than $190 million and was
paid more than $105 million. In 2012 alone, health officials say, he
billed Medicare $21 million — more than any other doctor in the nation.
“Medical
professionals who violate their oath by failing to attend to the health
of their patients and who submit falsified billing statements for their
own personal gain jeopardize the viability of government benefit
programs,” Mr. Ferrer said in a statement.
Dr.
Melgen has already pleaded not guilty in the New Jersey corruption
case, in which he is accused of funneling nearly $1 million in gifts and
campaign donations to Mr. Menendez in exchange for political favors.
Mr. Menendez, a Democrat, has also pleaded not guilty; he was not
charged in the Medicare case.
Dr.
Melgen’s lawyer Annie Lyons declined to comment on Tuesday about the
Medicare fraud charges but has previously said they were “highly
defensible.” Dr. Melgen is scheduled to make his first appearance in the
case on Wednesday in federal court in West Palm Beach.
The
total maximum prison time for all 76 counts if Dr. Melgen is convicted
in the health fraud case and the sentences are imposed consecutively is
610 years.
According
to the indictment, Dr. Melgen falsely diagnosed serious eye conditions,
such as macular degeneration and retinal disorders, in many patients,
and went on to perform unnecessary and costly procedures such as laser
surgery and eye injections for which he would bill Medicare.
In
addition, the indictment claims that Dr. Melgen made exorbitant profits
from a costly drug for macular degeneration, Lucentis, by splitting
vials intended for single use among multiple-use vials and then billing
Medicare as if each were for a single use. He is also accused of
falsifying patient and billing files and filing claims for diagnostic
tests not performed.
Dr.
Melgen and Mr. Menendez have been friends for decades. The senator has
said they celebrated holidays and weddings together, mourned together at
funerals and exchanged gifts on birthdays.
The
corruption indictment unsealed earlier this month against the men
claimed that Mr. Menendez intervened on his friend’s behalf to gain
visas for the doctor’s foreign girlfriends, to press officials in the
Dominican Republic to honor a lucrative port contract for one of the
doctor’s businesses and to influence officials on a billing dispute. In
exchange, authorities say, Dr. Melgen showered the senator with flights,
vacations and contributions.
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