Foot doctor gets 28 months in prison for Medicare fraud

DEARBORN (AP) — A suburban Detroit podiatrist has been sentenced to 28 months in federal prison after receiving about $340,000 from Medicare in a fraudulent billing scheme.

Lawrence Young told the government that he was billing for a medicated dressing to control swelling of a patient’s foot or leg. But investigators say it typically was an elastic bandage. The 71-year-old doctor worked at clinics in Dearborn and Sterling Heights.

Young told federal Judge Judith Levy that he’s “completely ashamed and embarrassed” by his conduct. He says he continued to see patients with little or no compensation for eight months after he was indicted in 2017.

Young’s lawyer suggested house arrest or time in a halfway house as a punishment, but the judge chose prison Tuesday.