Some oppose former NW Ind. surgeon's plea deal

HAMMOND, Ind. — Some patients of a former Indiana surgeon who has agreed to plead guilty to federal health care fraud charges say he deserves a harsher sentence than four years in prison.

In the proposed plea agreement filed in U.S. District Court on Monday, Mark Weinberger admitted billing for procedures he did not perform at the Merrillville clinic he operated. As part of the deal, he also agrees to pay $366,000 in restitution to 22 patients.

Those patients were only identified in court documents by their first names and last initials. But some former Weinberger patients spoke out against the agreement in interviews with the Post-Tribune of Merrillville.

Peggy Hood of Valparaiso said she is appalled. Her sister, Phyllis Barnes, died of head and neck cancer in 2002 — a cancer Weinberger failed to diagnose despite taking CT scans.

"I feel like it is a slap on the wrist," she said.

William Boyer of Gary, the only patient to obtain a jury verdict against Weinberger in a medical malpractice lawsuit, called the proposed sentence "a cakewalk."

"He'll probably end up in some country club prison," Boyer said. "He pleaded guilty to insurance fraud, but what about the people's lives he messed up? He should serve a lot more time than that. He could be out in two years. I don't think that sentence is fair at all."

If convicted at trial, Weinberger would have faced a maximum of 10 years in prison on each of the 22 counts and a maximum fine of $5.5 million.

Lyndsay Ponda of Portage said she's glad that Weinberger will do prison time.

"But four years? I think he deserved a lot more than that," she said.

Weinberger was arrested in December in Italy after five years on the run and was extradited to the U.S. Authorities said Weinberger stabbed himself in the neck when he was arrested on an Italian mountainside in December.

The plea hearing is scheduled for Friday before U.S. District Judge Philip Simon.