Nose doctor who hid in Italy awaits fraud sentence

[April 27, 2011]  SOUTH BEND, Ind. (AP) -- A former northwestern Indiana surgeon who was captured in Italy after more than five years on the run was to be sentenced on federal health care fraud charges Wednesday, and some of his patients are urging the judge to reject a plea deal they say is too lenient.

Mark Weinberger of Merrillville faces four years in prison under an October agreement in which he pleaded guilty to 22 counts of billing insurers and patients for procedures he didn't perform.

Bill Boyer, who won a $300,000 medical malpractice lawsuit against Weinberger last August, said four years isn't enough to compensate for the pain that hundreds of patients suffered because of the ear, nose and throat specialist.

"Think of what he did to all these people, including me," Boyer said. "For the rest of my life I have to go see doctors every six months and I'm on six different kinds of medications because of what he did."

At least 18 former patients have written to U.S. District Judge Philip Simon, urging him to reject the agreement for the 47-year-old former doctor, who was captured on a mountain in Italy in December 2009, more than five years after he disappeared during a vacation.

The sentencing comes a month after a Lake County Superior Court jury ordered Weinberger to pay $13 million to relatives of Phyllis Barnes of Valparaiso. Weinberger treated Barnes for sinus problems, but didn't diagnose the advanced throat cancer that killed her.

Kenneth Allen, the attorney for Barnes' daughter, Shawn, said the proposed sentence for Weinberger doesn't fit the crime.

"This man harmed a lot of people, killed Shawn's mother, and four years, in Shawn's words, seems like a slap in the face," he said.

Weinberger's attorneys, Adam Tavitas and Stephen Scheele, urged Simon in an 18-page memorandum to accept the plea, saying the four-year sentence exceeds federal sentencing guidelines by two to 10 months. They also said the sentencing is separate from the hundreds of civil lawsuits he is facing.

They called the sentence "a fair, just and reasonable resolution to this process."

Former patients disagree.

"His complete lack of remorse and concern for his victims, given the harm he inflicted, strikes me as something that should be considered an aggravating factor," Barbara Mills of Hobart wrote.

Boyer, a 59-year-old heavy equipment operator from Gary, said Weinberger drilled two unnecessary holes in his sinus cavity that cause him to suffer migraine headaches and nasal infections. He also said Weinberger didn't tell Boyer he had detected an irregular heartbeat before the surgery.

"At the trial, the doctors testified I could have died on the table," he said.

Weinberger's family and friends wrote to Simon asking him to accept the deal, saying that Weinberger was under intense pressure at the time. His lawyers wrote that Weinberger struggles with addiction and asked that he be enrolled in a residential drug abuse program as part of his sentence.

"Mark Weinberger is not a monster," his brother, Neil Weinberger wrote. "He's a brother, an uncle, a son. He's a doctor who made some poor decisions that affected people's lives, and for that he is remorseful."

Weinberger's attorneys also argue the plea agreements would save the court a lengthy and expensive trial.

Mary Hatton, a spokeswoman for the U.S. attorney's office, declined to comment on the case.

[Associated Press; By TOM COYNE]

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