A Doctor Takes His Cut: Slideshow

Source: Public DomainPosted 09 Feb 2009 Dr. Michael Rosin is a well-respected community member, family man, and dermatologist in Sarasota, Florida. But that all comes crashing down when it’s revealed that he has been preying on the elderly in a scheme to defraud the government out of $3.7 million.

Source: Ellen Murray Ellen Murray, a patient of Dr. Rosin, becomes suspicious after every biopsy he performs on her is diagnosed as cancer.

Source: Carolyn Ferrara Carolyn Ferrara works for Dr. Rosin for seven years. When Ellen Murray comes to her demanding slides of her previous biopsies, Ferrara gives her three of them. An examination of the slides by an outside dermatologist reveals that not only do the slides not reveal cancer, but they are so badly prepared that two of them can’t even be identified as containing skin. Murray and Ferrara join together to file a Whistleblower lawsuit against Dr. Rosin.

Source: Kurtis Productions Carolyn Ferrara claims that some employees, suspicious of Dr. Rosin, begin testing him. They make biopsy slides with Styrofoam, skin from Ferrara’s own leg, and this one made from a piece of bubble gum. She claims that Dr. Rosin diagnoses each one as cancer.

Source: Kurtis Productions The “whistleblower” suit incites investigations from Special Agent Diane Cutler of the Department of Health and Human Services and Special Agent Lynn Billings of the F.B.I. They discover that between 1998 and 2004, Dr. Rosin diagnoses over 99% of the biopsies he performs as cancer.

Source: Kurtis Productions According to the investigators, Rosin’s patients included many couples. When Pastor Thomas Douglas is accompanied by his wife for a scheduled biopsy, the doctor notices a spot behind her ear, and performs a biopsy on it. The diagnosis on both biopsies: cancer.

Source: Kurtis Productions The investigation further reveals that the slides Dr. Rosin uses to diagnose cancer are prepared with incompetence. According to an expert, the slide in the left hand of the photo is how biopsy slides are supposed to look. The slide in the right is typical of the slides prepared in Dr. Rosin’s office. Of the approximately 4,000 slides seized from Dr. Rosin’s office, investigators’ experts find almost half to be un-readable.

Source: Kurtis Productions Assistant U.S. Attorney Katherine Ho prosecutes the criminal case against Dr. Rosin and, on March 3, 2006, earns a verdict of guilty on 70 counts of health care fraud and making false statements in health care matters. Rosin is eventually sentenced to 22 years in prison and ordered to pay $7.2 million in fines and restitution.Find out more...Replay SlideshowReview the case fileVisit the American Greed website