Indiana Physician Who Hid in Europe Pleads Guilty to Fraud

Article

A former northwestern Indiana nose surgeon who was once the subject of an international dragnet before being captured on an Italian mountainside after five years on the run has pleaded guilty to 22 counts of health care fraud in his second attempt at a plea deal.

The Post-Tribune of Merrillville reports that U.S. District Judge Philip Simon told Mark Weinberger during a hearing on July 23 that he’s “virtually certain” he will accept the plea agreement.

Simon rejected a plea agreement in April 2011 that called for a four-year prison sentence, saying he wasn’t confident it took into account the magnitude of Weinberger’s crimes.

The new agreement sets a limit of 10 years in prison. If Simon doesn’t agree, Weinberger could withdraw his guilty plea.

Sentencing is scheduled for Oct. 12. He was indicted in 2002.

Weinberger faces hundreds of malpractice lawsuits stemming from his Merrillville nose and sinus practice.

He was ordered in March 2010 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.

He was arrested in December 2009 near Italy’s border with France as he hid on a snowy mountain as allegations mounted concerning his medical practice. Weinberger was brought back to the United States in early 2010.

Earlier this year, Weinberger sued his malpractice insurance company, claiming it failed to properly defend him in hundreds of civil cases.

The Post-Tribune reported Mark Weinberger sought unspecified damages from Medical Assurance Co. The lawsuit alleges Medical Assurance used information garnered from Weinberger’s malpractice cases in its own lawsuit against Weinberger.

That lawsuit, filed in 2006, seeks to determine what role if any Medical Assurance owes in Weinberger’s cases.