Chicago Doctor Guilty of Fraud and Malpractice

 Posted on January 27, 2013 in Personal Injury

A Chicago ophthalmologist was indicted by a federal grand jury in November 2012 for defrauding his employees' pension benefit plan of nearly $200,000, according to a story in the Chicago Tribune. Dr. Nicholas Caro was charged with obtaining money from the pension plan. The five-count indictment includes one for embezzlement and four for mail fraud. The indictment alleges that Caro withdrew pension funds from investment firms, deposited the funds to his and his wife’s bank accounts and used the funds on personal expenses.

In 2010, Caro was barred from performing eye surgeries in Illinois for engaging in unprofessional conduct and gross negligence. Furthermore, his medical license was suspended for a month and he was banned from performing operations that change the curvature of the cornea, including Lasik surgeries. A fine of $10,000 was also issued against him.

By 2009, Caro had been sued nearly 50 times for medical malpractice in Cook County since the late 1990s. Despite the fact that the state's chief medical prosecutor at the time, Lisa Stephens, had proposed in 2008 that Caro’s medical license be suspended due to mishandled eye surgeries and failing to treat properly postoperative complications, he had continued to perform Lasik surgeries. Some patients have reported permanent eye damage after Caro’s surgeries. Karen Thiel said in 2009 that her cornea was seriously injured by Caro, which caused her pain, eye infections and permanent loss of vision. She was awarded hundreds of thousands of dollars in compensation.

If you or a family member has become a victim of malpractice and was injured because of it, it is very important that you consult an experienced personal injury attorney. Don’t go through it alone. Contact a knowledgeable personal injury attorney in Hinsdale immediately.