Windermere doctor convicted of healthcare fraud sentenced to 10 years in prison

After being found guilty on 20 counts of medicare fraud September 2015, a Windermere ophthalmologist was sentenced to 10 years in prison by U.S. District Judge Brian Davis on March 14.

The 59-year-old eye doctor, David Ming Pon, is also ordered to repay $7 million after deliberately misdiagnosing more than 500 of his patients in order to bill Medicare for unnecessary diagnostic tests and laser treatments.

Pon, who worked at the Advanced Retina Eye Institute in Leesburg and had a second office in Orlando, would tell his patients they had wet macular degeneration – a degenerative eye disease that causes blurred vision and can lead to blindness.

When conducting the tests and treatments, Pon would inject patients with dyes known to pose "potential serious health risks, including cardiac arrest," according to a press release from the Department of Justice. However, Pon – who faced a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison for each count totaling 200 years – would use the laser at a low power setting that had no effect on the patients.

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Contact Gabby Baquero at [email protected]