Doctors & Crime? Well, They Seem to go Together Like Yoo-hoo & Ding Dongs
Well, last week served up yet another litany of American physicians who stepped into deep legal doo-doo. Here's a smattering of their crimes, annotated over a mere seven-day period. Keep in mind these fools only represent the steady stream of the other 200 lab coat loons, nabbed in any given month of any given year:
West Bloomfield Doctor Gets Prison for Medicare Fraud
A West Bloomfield Township doctor has been sentenced to 6 years in prison for his part in a $10,400,000 healthcare fraud scheme. Authorities say Mahmoud Rahim, age 65, took cash kickbacks in exchange for referring Medicare patients for unnecessary medical tests.
Delray-area Physician Faces Life in Prison in Drug-dealing Case
When a Palm Beach County judge in 2016 sentenced a 59-year-old suburban Delray Beach doctor to 25 years in prison on drug trafficking charges, his attorneys said it was tantamount to a life sentence.
On Wednesday, an appeals court threw out the sentence, saying Circuit Judge Jack Cox offered no justification for refusing to hand Doctor Barry Schultz a real life sentence.
Convicted Fraudster Doctor Quynam P. Nguyen Faces Medical Board Discipline
A Garden Grove California physician, who pleaded guilty twice last year to being part of an insurance fraud scheme that generated $98,000,000 in unnecessary medical treatment bills, is now the subject of a Medical Board of California discipline. He was convicted on June 23 in an insurance fraud case filed in Orange County Superior Court.
Time to Crack-down on Criminal Doctors, Andrew Cuomo Says
The proposal comes after the recent sentencing of Doctor Larry Nassar, the former USA Gymnastics team physician who pleaded guilty to multiple counts of sexual misconduct and was accused by more than 150 women of sexual abuse. "This type of physician misconduct is a vile violation of trust,” New York Governor Andrew Cuomo said today.
Doctor Jailed on Child Porn Charges and Having Sex with a Patient
A former University of Michigan physician has been jailed on child pornography charges after being targeted in a broader probe.
Doctor Mark Hoeltzel, 46, a pediatric rheumatology specialist whose state medical license was suspended December 21, was having sex with a “vulnerable” female patient in his clinic; gave her pain pills that she didn't need and talked to her about his other teenage patients' "hot" bodies, federal prosecutors said.
No other profession commits more crime.