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The case of disgraced Indiana sinus surgeon Mark Weinberger, who’s now residing a brand new life in Florida, will air on Oxygen’s Dateline: Secrets and techniques Uncovered. The upcoming episode “A Needed Man” explores Weinberger’s well being fraud crimes and his life as a global fugitive. The episode premieres on the community this Wednesday, July 31, 2024, at 8 p.m. ET.
Reportedly, the households of two of Mark Weinberger’s former sufferers, Phyllis Barnes and Kayla Thomas, filed complaints in opposition to the physician. They claimed that Weinberger, who ran a profitable sinus clinic in Merriville, Indiana, carried out pointless surgical procedures. Moreover, he didn’t diagnose Barnes’ most cancers and Kayla’s mind tumor. Weinberger additionally made hundreds of thousands by overbilling insurance coverage firms for the useless surgical procedures or those he by no means carried out.
Mark Weinberger then fled the nation after taking his spouse, Michelle Kramer, on a trip to the Greek Islands. Italian authorities caught him in 2009, and three years later, he pleaded responsible to 22 well being fraud counts. The disgraced surgeon served lower than 5 years in federal jail earlier than his 2014 launch.
Mark Weinberger now: The place is the previous surgeon right this moment?
In response to NBC Chicago, Dateline tracked down Mark Weinberger years after his jail launch. The 2021 report acknowledged they discovered him in Florida, residing a brand new life in West Palm Seaside with a brand new spouse and two babies. The ex-convict has launched into a contemporary journey in cryptocurrency on YouTube and goes by the identify Mark W. Furthermore, an investigation into his on-line presence revealed that he now calls himself a yoga physician and sells yoga lessons by way of on-line movies.
Former sinus surgeon Mark Weinberger’s medical license was revoked in 2005 after he turned a global fugitive. The yr earlier than, allegations regarding his malpractices first surfaced. Chicago Tribune acknowledged that Weinberger didn’t diagnose two of his sufferers, Phyllis Barnes and Kayla Thomas, with life-threatening situations. Barnes’ household claimed the surgeon carried out a negligent process and was unable to diagnose her most cancers. She later died in 2004.
The second affected person, then-eight-year-old Kayla Thomas, had a mind tumor that Mark Weinberger didn’t diagnose. Moreover, the lady’s household claimed the sinus surgical procedure was pointless and triggered issues in her life afterward. Kayla’s mom, Valerie Thomas, sued Weinberger in 2004 after subsequent examinations discovered a tumor in her pituitary gland.
Valerie claimed that Kayla Thomas’ “head was 3 times the scale” and that “she was beginning to go blind.” The tumor that Mark Weinberger didn’t diagnose “was urgent on her optic nerve.” Moreover, Kayla recalled feeling “dizzy” and “nauseous” and acknowledged that she “was throwing up on a regular basis.” Whereas medical doctors decided that Kayla’s tumor was not cancerous, the scar tissue from Weinberger’s pointless surgical procedure sophisticated the method to take away it.
Reportedly, Valerie Thomas famous that surgeons “solely obtained 10 %” of the tumor whereas 90% nonetheless stays inside Kayla. Whereas his sufferers suffered, Mark Weinberger made hundreds of thousands by overbilling insurance coverage firms for these surgical procedures. Valerie believes Weinberger’s motive was “all about greed. He wished as a lot cash as he can get.”
As soon as his crimes started to floor, Mark Weinberger took his then-wife, Michelle Kramer, on a trip to the Greek Islands in 2004. Kramer claimed they have been there to have fun her thirtieth birthday, however Weinberger deserted her with out a proof. She revealed they have been vacationing on a 79-foot powerboat in Mykonos when her husband ran away.
Within the following years, a global manhunt for Mark Weinberger ensued, leading to his arrest in 2009. Reportedly, Weinberger had been courting an Italian girl who noticed his characteristic on America’s Most Needed and turned him in. She instructed Italian authorities about his whereabouts, who then discovered him within the Alps. The fugitive had been residing in a tent on a snowy mountainside.
Later, in 2012, Mark Weinberger pleaded responsible to 22 counts of well being fraud and obtained a seven-year sentence in federal jail. By then, no less than 300 of Weinberger’s former sufferers had sued him for his or her surgical procedures. In 2013, these people later settled for a shared quantity of $55 million for medical malpractice. He obtained an early launch in 2014.
Dateline: Secrets and techniques Uncovered will discover the case of Mark Weinberger on Oxygen this Wednesday.
