Lodi doctor convicted on 10 counts insurance fraud

A Lodi orthopedic surgeon was convicted Thursday of 10 felony counts of health care insurance fraud.

Gary Wisner was found guilty in a Sacramento County Superior Court of defrauding Medi-Cal and Medicare by administering excessive and medically unjustifiable X-rays to his patients between 2012 and 2016.

"When medical practitioners abuse their power, it's always at the expense of patients under their care," California Attorney General Rob Bonta said in a news release. "Gary Wisner abused the position he held as a health care provider by subjecting his patients to unnecessary procedures to secure additional profits."

The California Department of Justice, Division of Medi-Cal Fraud and Elder Abuse (DMFEA) was notified by multiple government offices in November 2016 of suspected fraud by Wisner in overbilling the Medi-Cal and Medicare programs.

Wisner, who operated a medical clinic in Lodi, would administer X-rays even in routine office visits and would X-ray multiple parts of a patient's body — regardless of whether it had any relation to a patient's medical condition, the DMFEA investigation.

Evidence presented at trial showed that over a roughly four-year period, Wisner subjected 10 patients to hundreds of unnecessary X-rays at his clinic.

Wisner is also the subject of an independent criminal complaint filed by the San Joaquin County District Attorney's Office for worker's compensation fraud.