airdate 12/28/2007
Reporter: Melissa Wilson

side effects of sweat surgery (sympathectomy)

The three are accused of more than 1,000 unneeded surgeries at Buena Park center, bilking insurers of $30.5 million.
By RACHANEE SRISAVASDI and COURTNEY PERKES

SANTA ANA -- It just took a few hundred bucks,   more...or in one case, the promise of a tummy tuck, for the insured "patients" to lie down on the operating table in Buena Park.

There, at Unity Outpatient Surgery Center, doctors Michael C. Chan, William W. Hampton Jr. and Mario Z. Rosenberg were waiting, and performed more than 1,000 mostly unnecessary procedures to remove cysts,

treat sweaty palms

and hemorrhoids, prosecutors say.
The three doctors were arrested Wednesday for allegedly bilking insurance companies out of $30.5 million while working at the now-shuttered Unity surgery center.

Authorities say the physicians are part of a broader $96 million scam conducted at Unity, which they say is the largest medical fraud prosecution in the nation. About 2,000 patients with insurance were seen at the clinic from August 2002 to April 2003. Many flew to Orange County from the East Coast, bringing family members to also undergo surgery for payment.

During that time insurance companies paid Unity -- the center and its operators -- more than $17 million.

The state Medical Board is looking into suspending the doctors, and can revoke their licenses. Records show Hampton received a Medical Board citation and $1,000 fine last year for failing to report a federal indictment in 2005 for a similar medical fraud scheme in Los Angeles.

Lawyers denied the allegations.

Rosenberg is one of the leading gastroenterologists in the country and "vigorously denies" all charges, said his lawyer, Peter Morris. "He's very hard working and well-loved by his patients,'' he said. " He performs legitimate services based on patients' complaints."

Attorney Kenneth Sisco, who once represented Chan in a civil case, said Chan worked at Unity very briefly. "He told me when he learned they were doing things inappropriately, he left the clinic," he said. "Everything I know about him is very good."

A lawyer for Hampton could not be reached for comment.

Prosecutors say the doctors performed the surgeries -- sometimes a few dozen a day -- at the center. Recruiters, called "cappers,'' found "patients" through word of mouth, offering people nationwide $300 to $1,000 for each procedure.

Chan -- the alleged owner and medical director at Unity -- allegedly conducted procedures on 208 patients, resulting in fraudulent billing of more than $9.5 million.

He also is accused of pocketing 2 percent of Unity's profits. In one instance, Chan allegedly promised a woman a tummy tuck after she agreed to an ultrasound and a cyst removal.

Rosenberg, who is on staff at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles, is accused of performing 646 procedures on 554 patients resulting in fraudulent billing of more than $9 million. His patients, prosecutors say, came from 21 states outside California.


Hampton, of Seal Beach, allegedly performed 180 unnecessary sweaty palm surgeries on 178 patients in a four-month span.


"It is unfathomable that a doctor would treat patients as if they were bodies on a medical conveyor belt for a quick buck,'' Orange County District Attorney Tony Rackauckas said at a news conference.

Insurance fraud costs the state $15 billion, said California Insurance Commissioner Steve Poizner. Each Californian pays $500 annually in higher insurance rates because of fraud, he said.

"This kind of fraud is harmful to everyone who pays for health insurance or who can't afford to," said David Seldin, spokesman for Blue Shield of California, one of the companies allegedly defrauded.

Clinics get away with the crimes by submitting bills to insurance companies that don't require preauthorization for surgeries. But some forms catch the attention of state investigators, who sometimes work undercover or conduct surprise visits at the clinics, Poizner added.

In this case,  less

sweat surgery disabling many people. not all side effects disclosed