Doctor admits to making unnecessary Medicare referrals

A Hollywood doctor pleaded guilty Monday to playing a key role in a fraud conspiracy by referring 858 Medicare patients to Miami-Dade home healthcare agencies for unnecessary diabetic services.

Dr. Fred Dweck, 75, of Hollywood, admitted signing prescriptions and other paperwork to make it look like the patients needed nurses to visit their homes for insulin injections and other therapy that they didn't actually need—at the federal government's expense.

Dweck worked at Courtesy Medical Group, a Miami-Dade clinic that referred the Medicare patients to two home-care agencies, generating $37 million in fraudulent claims and $22 million in payments over the previous four years.