Contrary to his website and resume, big-name institutions including Harvard, Yale and the Univ of Missouri have claimed they have no record of professional or educational history with Florida ophthalmologist Salomon Melgen, MD, who is under two separate federal investigations for Medicare fraud and a political scandal involving a Democratic senator, according to a report by the Washington Free Beacon.
Dr. Melgen's biography (pdf link at web site) on his website claims he graduated from Harvard, was chief resident of ophthalmology at the Univ of Missouri, and held a Yale internship, but all three denied any record to support his credentials, according to the report.
Dr. Melgen, an active fundraiser for the Democratic Party, is under fire after it was discovered that he and US Sen. Robert Menendez (D-NJ), improperly reported frequent trips to the Dominican Republic, and allegedly hired underage Dominican prostitutes for sex parties. © Copyright ASC COMMUNICATIONS 2012.
2/6/13---Miami Herald, Jay Weaver, Marc Caputo and Amy Sherman / jweaver@MiamiHerald.com
A South Florida eye surgeon who’s a friend of a U.S. senator is under federal criminal investigation for billing Medicare millions of dollars to treat elderly patients for services they may not have needed, The Miami Herald has learned. Federal agents began investigating Dr. Salomon Melgen last year, sources say, after investigators suspected he overbilled the taxpayer-funded health program by overprescribing a high-priced drug called Lucentis, which is injected into patients’ eyes.
Several sources familiar with the doctor’s practice said he used the drug, which costs $2,000 a vial, to treat patients with macular degeneration more than any other ophthalmologist in Florida and possibly the country. His high patient volume also raised red flags for investigators, the sources said.
Under Medicare policies, a doctor may only prescribe treatment that is “reasonable” and “necessary.” To make a case, federal prosecutors would have to prove that Melgen needlessly treated patients simply to run up sky-high Medicare bills.
Melgen, whose lawyers have denied any wrongdoing, finds himself in the middle of two federal investigations: His Vitreo- Retinal eye clinics in West Palm Beach and two other South Florida sites were raided last week by agents with the FBI and the Department of Health and Human Services, who are investigating possible Medicare fraud.
A separate FBI investigation revolves around the doctor’s relationship with U.S. Sen. Robert Menendez, D-N.J., and the trips they took on his private plane to Melgen’s villa at a resort in the Dominican Republic.
--SNIP--
http://www.miamiherald.com/2013/02/07/3222772/so-fla-eye-surgeon-under-scrutiny.html