Lodi doctor arraigned on felony insurance fraud charges
Doctor enters no plea to 11 felony counts from $700,000 in charges
Dr. Gary Royce Wisner, 61, of Lodi, entered no plea on Wednesday when he was arraigned on 11 felony counts of insurance fraud, and will appear again before the San Joaquin County Superior Court in Stockton on June 26 for further arraignment.
The California Department of Insurance said in a Wednesday press release that Wisner is accused of billing insurance providers for more than $700,000 by “providing unnecessary and excessive medical treatment for orthopedic patients,” including exposing them to X-rays.
"Dr. Wisner violated his Hippocratic Oath when he allegedly abused his patients and the workers’ compensation system to line his pockets with illegal profits," said Insurance Commissioner Dave Jones. "When medical providers scam the system, everybody loses, including the injured workers, their employers and consumers when the losses are passed along to them through higher prices for goods and services."
The San Joaquin County District Attorney’s Office said in a separate Wednesday press release that Wisner was indicted by the county criminal grand jury on May 30 following a twoyear investigation by the district attorney’s office, and could face a state prison sentence if convicted on all counts.
The Bureau of Medi-Cal Fraud and Elder Abuse served a search warrant and seized documents at Wisner’s orthopedic and spine surgery center on the 600 block of South Ham Lane in Lodi on May 21, 2017.
Attempts to reach Wisner by phone and email on Thursday were unsuccessful.
The California Department of Insurance, California Department of Justice Office of the Attorney General Bureau of Medi-Cal Fraud and Elder Abuse and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services assisted the district attorney’s office in the investigation.