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Fla. ophthalmologist sentenced for Medicare fraud
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Gustavo E. Coll, MD, a Coral Gables, Fla.-based ophthalmologist, was sentenced in May to 57 months imprisonment for 90 counts of Medicare fraud, in which he billed the program for about $1 million for services that he did not provide or that were deemed medically unnecessary.
Among the findings of the court were that Dr. Coll consciously and recklessly created a risk of serious bodily injury to his patients by performing medically unnecessary laser treatments.
According to a news release from the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Florida, from the time Dr. Coll arrived in Miami after completing a retinal fellowship in New York, he began fabricating medical charts and billing records, claiming to have conducted diagnostic tests and laser surgeries. In many instances, according to the U.S. Attorney’s statement, Medicare patients were led to believe that they had serious eye disease that could result in blindness if not treated, when, in fact, they did not have the disease.
At one of his clinics, Dr. Coll regularly claimed to have performed ophthalmic services when the machinery necessary to perform the procedures was not present.
In addition to his prison sentence, Dr. Coll was ordered to pay restitution to the United States in the amount of $792,952, a $50,000 fine and a $9,000 special assessment.