Closings expected in Florida doctor’s Medicare fraud trial

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. – Closing arguments are expected in the Medicare fraud trial of a prominent Florida eye doctor who authorities say bribed a U.S. senator.

Prosecutors will try to convince federal jurors in West Palm Beach on Tuesday that Dr. Salomon Melgen stole up to $105 million from the federal insurance program between 2008 and 2013, giving patients treatments and tests that couldn’t help them.

Melgen’s attorneys say he’s a good doctor who aggressively treated his patients in attempts to save their sight. They say any billing issues were mistakes. The trial is in its eighth week.

Separately, federal prosecutors in New Jersey say Melgen bribed Democratic U.S. Sen. Bob Menendez. They say Melgen took Menendez on expensive vacations to get his help with issues such as the Medicare probe.