"Dr. Salomon Melgen, an eye doctor, major Democratic donor, and friend of Sen. Bob Menendez (D., N.J.), collected $20 million dollars from Medicare in 2012, the Washington Times reports.
Salomon Melgen’s practice charged the Medicare program for 37,075 injections of a macular degeneration drug to 645 different patients. The government paid him back at an average reimbursement of nearly $320 for each procedure, according to the records."...
..."The new data show Melgen's most common billing of the federal government for Medicare payments came from Lucentis, or Ranbizumab, a medication that treats macular degeneration. According to the data, Melgen billed for more than 37,000 doses of the medication that were given to 645 patients. The average reimbursement for the medication was $318.
"While the amounts in the CMS data release appear large, the vast majority reflects the cost of drugs," Orgrosky said. "The facts are that doctors receive six percent above what they pay for drugs, the amount billed by physicians is set by law, and drug companies set the price of drugs, not doctors. Responsible analysis requires looking beyond the raw data to what was paid for pharmaceuticals and expenses. Dr. Melgen stands by his record of improving the vision and quality of life of patients from around the world."...
