Dr. John Natale, nationally recognized cardio-vascular surgeon was charged with Medicare fraud only to be found not guilty by the jury. He performed over 7500 surgeries in his career and never lost a patient on the operating table. The DOJ brought this case to court regarding 5 ruptured aneurysms performed in the emergency room on 5 elderly patients - all expected to die. Even the expert witness for the DOJ had to admit that Dr. Natale's skill as a surgeon was exemplary. The jury found that no fraud had been committed yet Judge Rebecca Pallmeyer, under the strong urging of the DOJ sentenced the doctor to 10 months imprisonment for errors found in two out of over 1200 operative notes reviewed by the DOJ. The errors were clerical and misstatements in dictation which isn't a crime.
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