Disclaimer: This article contains mentions of death. Reader discretion is advised.
Oxygen’s Dateline: Secrets Uncovered chronicles the case of disgraced sinus surgeon Mark Weinberger, dubbed the Nose Doctor. Weinberger was an Ivy-league graduate doctor who ran a successful sinus clinic in Merriville, Indiana. However, he performed negligent surgeries on two of his former patients, causing one of them to die. The upcoming episode, “A Wanted Man,” will air on the network on Wednesday, July 31, 2024, at 8 p.m. ET.
Reportedly, after performing two negligent surgeries, Mark Weinberger fled to the Greek Islands while vacationing with his wife, Michelle Kramer. Weinberger abandoned his Merriville clinic and his wife when the lawsuits began piling up. He remained on the run for years, prompting an international manhunt, and even started a new life in Europe. However, after a feature in America’s Most Wanted, Weinberger’s Italian girlfriend reported him to authorities.
In 2012, Mark Weinberger pleaded guilty to multiple health fraud charges in Indiana and received seven years in prison. NBC Chicago reported that he served less than five years in prison before his release in 2014.
What did sinus surgeon Mark Weinberger do & how was he caught?
Chicago Tribune stated that two of Mark Weinberger’s former patients sued him for surgeries he performed on them. Weinberger performed sinus surgeries on these patients, namely Phyllis Barnes and Kayla Thomas. Later, Barnes’ family claimed the surgeon performed a negligent procedure and failed to diagnose her cancer. Phyllis Barnes died in 2004.
Additionally, Kayla Thomas’ family claimed Mark Weinberger’s surgery on the then-eight-year-old was unnecessary. A subsequent examination found that she had a brain tumor. Kayla’s mother filed a complaint against Weinberger for performing an unnecessary sinus surgery on the girl in 2004. Additionally, the complaint stated that he failed to discover the tumor in her pituitary gland, per NBC Chicago.
Describing her daughter’s condition, Valerie said, “Her head was three times the size. They said she was starting to go blind. It was pressing on her optic nerve.” Kayla added, “I was dizzy. I was nauseous. I was throwing up all the time.” Valerie further noted Chicago doctors concluded Kayla’s tumor was not cancerous. However, the scar tissue from Mark Weinberger’s unnecessary surgery made it impossible for doctors to fully remove the tumor.
Valerie stated that surgeons “only got 10 percent” of the tumor, and the remaining 90% still remains inside Kayla. Through these surgeries, Mark Weinberger made millions. He overbilled insurance companies for the needless surgical procedures or the ones he never performed.
However, as soon as the complaints began to pile up, Mark Weinberger took his wife, Michelle Kramer, on a trip. The couple was in the Greek Islands to celebrate Kramer’s 30th birthday. They were vacationing on a 79-foot powerboat in Mykonos when Weinberger ran away. Kramer claimed she woke up one day to find her husband was gone. He abandoned his wife and the Merriville clinic where he had performed the surgeries.
Reportedly, Weinberger remained a fugitive for several years. Two years after he fled during his vacation, a federal grand jury in Indiana indicted him on 22 counts of healthcare fraud. Meanwhile, an international manhunt for Weinberger continued.
In December 2009, Italian police found Mark Weinberger on a snowy mountainside in the Italian Alps. He had been living in a tent there. Reportedly, Weinberger’s arrest was possible after his Italian girlfriend found him in an America’s Most Wanted feature. She then tipped off authorities about his whereabouts.
Weinberger pleaded guilty to the health fraud charges in 2012 and received a seven-year sentence in federal prison. However, in 2014, he was released early after serving less than five years in prison.
Dateline: Secrets Uncovered will re-examine disgraced surgeon Mark Weinberger’s crimes this Wednesday.
