No verdict yet in eye doctor’s $105M Medicare fraud case

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. – A jury has failed to reach a verdict on the first day of deliberations in the Medicare fraud trial of a prominent Florida eye doctor who is accused separately of bribing a U.S. senator.

After a two-month trial, jurors in West Palm Beach on Wednesday began deciding the fate of Dr. Salomon Melgen. Jurors will continue deliberating Thursday morning.

Prosecutors say he stole up to $105 million from Medicare between 2008 and 2013, giving patients treatments and tests that couldn’t help them. Melgen’s attorneys contend any billing issues were simply mistakes. They say he’s a good doctor who aggressively treated his patients in attempts to save their sight.

Separately, federal prosecutors in New Jersey say Melgen bribed Democratic U.S. Sen. Bob Menendez. That case is pending.