Ophthalmologist Is Sued for Medicare Fraud : Courts: Government hopes to send message and recover funds it lost in improper billings from man found guilty of grand theft last year.

The U.S. government has sued a North Hollywood ophthalmologist convicted of submitting fraudulent Medicare claims in an effort to recover at least $150,000, authorities said Monday.

Dr. Alan R. Schankman was found guilty last year in Los Angeles Superior Court in Van Nuys of 36 grand theft counts in connection with the bogus billings for eye surgeries that never occurred, said Assistant U.S. Atty. David A. Ringnell. Even though the amount of fraudulent billing between 1987 and 1989 amounted to only $56,000, Ringnell said, Schankman was sentenced to 16 months in state prison and was fined $686,000.

But because those fines would be paid to the state, the federal government filed the civil lawsuit late last week so the Medicare program can recover the money it lost as a result of the fraud, Ringnell said.

Schankman, who is free on appeal, had no comment when reached at his North Hollywood practice. “This is just a stupid little suit,” said his lawyer, Henry Fenton. “He doesn’t owe any money and he didn’t commit any fraud. I expect we will win the appeal.”

If found liable, Schankman could be ordered to pay three times the amount of damages sustained by the Medicare program, plus civil penalties of $5,000 to $10,000 per bogus claim, Ringnell said.

“The problem with the criminal conviction was we hardly recovered anything,” Ringnell said. “This is part of an effort to send a message that we treat Medicare fraud with seriousness, and that we’re not only seeking prison terms but the criminal proceeds of the fraud.”

Authorities have not yet specified how much money they will seek from the doctor, but they hope to recover at least $150,000 for the Medicare program, “which, of course, needs every cent we can come up with these days,” Ringnell said.

Schankman filed claims with Medicare stating that he performed in-office surgeries on patients as follow-up procedures to removal of cataracts.

But the district attorney’s office said the follow-up surgeries were never performed. They said Schankman merely performed routine follow-up procedures such as removal of stitches, which are not covered by Medicare, and then billed the federal government.

Schankman, in his appeal, has said other doctors are routinely reimbursed through Medicare for the same procedures.

The case against Schankman was the result of an investigation by the U.S. Office of Inspector General of the Department of Health and Human Services.