Oy! Indicted eye doctor, wife found dead at his office

[devilgrrl]

SOUTH BEND, Ind. - An eye surgeon and his wife were found shot to death Monday, hours before they were scheduled to surrender to authorities on charges of performing unnecessary surgeries on patients, including children, and bilking money from health insurers.

The bodies of Dr. Philip Gabriele, 44, and his 43-year-old wife, Marcella, both of Granger, were found inside his Gabriele Eye Institute in Elkhart by police investigating a possible suicide attempt, Elkhart police spokesman Lt. Ed Windbigler said.

Philip Gabriele committed suicide, Windbigler said. Authorities were trying to determine who shot Marcella Gabriele, he said.

No one else was in the office, which was not scheduled to be open Monday.

Last week, a federal grand jury indicted Philip Gabriele, an ophthalmologist and eye surgeon with offices in Elkhart, South Bend and Mishawaka, and his wife on charges of health care fraud, wire fraud and criminal conspiracy.

The indictment alleged Philip Gabriele falsely diagnosed cataracts and other disorders and performed unnecessary surgeries. He was accused of fraudulently removing healthy eye lenses and replacing them with artificial lenses. Some of the surgeries were poorly done and caused poorer vision, the indictment charged, and Gabriele performed unnecessary surgery on patients, including children, who had strabismus, or crossed eyes.

more: http://enews.earthlink.net/article/us?guid=20090615/4a35d550_3421_1334520090615-2082768915

[Turbineguy]

1. Eye surgery

There's gotta be easier ways to steal money.