Insurance Fraud Trial of Indiana Doctor Moved to South Bend

The health care fraud trial of a northwestern Indiana nose surgeon captured in Italy after more than five years on the run is now set for South Bend.

The Times of Munster reports U.S. District Judge Philip Simon issued a ruling Oct. 24 saying he didn’t believe potential jurors in the Hammond district could disregard news coverage about Mark Weinberger and the fact he once agreed to plead guilty in the case. He later withdrew that plea.

Weinberger was indicted on 22 counts of health care nearly five years ago. Prosecutors claim he filed insurance claims for surgeries he never performed at his Merrillville clinic.

Weinberger has been in federal custody since shortly after his arrest in the Italian Alps in 2009.

The Indiana Court of Appeals recently upheld the first malpractice judgment Weinberger. Former patient William Boyer had sued Weinberger on claims the doctor did not perform proper surgery on Boyer. A Lake County jury sided with Boyer and awarded him $300,000 last year. It was the first civil suit to go to trial against Weinberger.

Weinberger still faces lawsuits from hundreds of former patients. His fraud trial is scheduled for January.

Weinberger was arrested on an Italian mountainside in 2009 after disappearing in 2004.