The seven-week trial of a gynecologist accused by the federal
government of defrauding insurers into paying for fertility procedures ended
in a mistrial yesterday.
The gynecologist, Dr. Niels H. Lauersen, was indicted last year with his
anesthesiologist, Dr. Magda Binion, on charges of billing insurers for
gynecological procedures like cyst removals to mask what prosecutors said he
was really doing -- fertility procedures for women who could not become
pregnant. Over the course of 10 years, law enforcement officials said, his
scheme brought in roughly $4 million.
At the trial in Federal District Court in Manhattan, the prosecutor,
Christine Chung, described Dr. Lauersen as greedy and duplicitous, a doctor
who sought double payments by billing insurance companies, which do not
usually pay for fertility work, as well as patients.
Ms. Chung urged the jury not to be swayed by arguments that Dr. Lauersen,
whose patients range from policewomen and secretaries to the wife of Geraldo
Rivera, was acting out of kindness. ''Park Avenue Specialists. It has a nice
ring to it, doesn't it?'' she said in her first remarks, referring to his
practice. ''You might not think that Park Avenue doctors would lie to line
their own pockets. It might not occur to you that such doctors would scam
the system. But that is exactly what these doctors did.''
Dr. Lauersen's lawyer, Ted Wells, argued that his client was performing
the procedures for which he billed insurance companies, often to mend
medical conditions that caused infertility, in addition to the fertility
work that he billed patients for. Mr. Wells's main strategy was to tear down
government witnesses, including another anesthesiologist who claimed to be
in on the scheme and who also admitted to a profound drug problem, detailing
at one point how he collapsed during a procedure from an overdose.
But jurors, who deliberated for six and a half days, could not reach a
verdict, even after asking to review mounds of evidence. In a note submitted
to the judge, William H. Pauley, the jury forewoman wrote, ''The jury after
careful consideration has still not been able to arrive in agreement on any
of the counts.''
Mr. Wells said yesterday: ''We are disappointed that the jury did not
reach a verdict.'' He added, ''We are grateful that he will walk out of the
courthouse the same way he walked in, presumed innocent and convicted on
nothing.'' Ms. Chung refused to comment. The case is expected to be retried
in April.
The trial was carefully watched by legal and fertility experts, as well
as Dr. Lauersen's patients, who often filled the courtroom during the trial.
Organizations mentioned in this article:
Related Terms:
Reproduction (Biological); Frauds and
Swindling; Doctors; Health Insurance; Infertility
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