DETROIT (WXYZ) — A metro Detroit doctor filed a $50 million lawsuit alleging he was falsely accused of healthcare fraud, causing him to lose his livelihood and reputation years after charges against him were dropped.
Watch Simon Shaykhet's video report:
Dr. Anthony Weinert says he’s still struggling to find work and clear his name.
“I can’t put it into words, but every night, I think about this,” he said.
Overcome with emotions after he says his career as a doctor was destroyed, Weinert revealing he turned to working as a DoorDash driver to support his family.
“I’m just not the same. I’m not the same as I was before that 9/11 of 2019 date,” Weinert said.
Weinert was charged by federal prosecutors in Washington in 2019 with healthcare fraud as part of a larger case he told us cost him his reputation and two clinics, along with a supervisory surgical position at Henry Ford Hospital in Warren.
“Without any real hard evidence, it turned into a federal indictment that turned this individual’s life upside down,” attorney Nabih Ayad said.
Ayad during a press conference announced the filing of a federal lawsuit against U.S. Department of Health and Human Services agents and added that when charges against Weinert were later voluntarily dismissed in December 2023, it had already become too late for the doctor to bill for services under federal healthcare programs.
Ayad says Weinert has suffered unimaginable emotional harm, being humiliated publicly and forced to spend his life savings on a legal battle.
“This was a botched investigation,” Ayad said.
Weinert previously appeared on 7 News Detroit for donating thousands of shoes to veterans and Detroit school children.
I reached out to the Office of Public Affairs with HHS for a response, but they declined comment.
I also asked Abed Hammoud, former federal prosecutor, his take on charges getting dismissed in a federal case.
“If a prosecutor is not prosecuting a case, there is no case. So the prosecutor at any level has a discussion to dismiss charges at any time if they believe it’s appropriate for reasons that sometimes they can say and cannot say,” Hammoud said.
I also contacted former patients for their response to the $50 million lawsuit and what the doctor calls his quest for accountability.
“He deserves to clear his name. The government really did him wrong in this case. I can see they're looking out for taxpayers, Medicare and everything else, but someone really needs to step up and say hey, we were wrong,” former patient Al Ayoub said. “He would go out of his own pocket to buy shoes for homeless vets, school children in Detroit... him not being able to do that has taken an emotional toll on him.”
Ayad acknowledged during the press conference the harm caused by those who do commit healthcare fraud, but doubled down saying his client is not a criminal.
“I remember when they came to our office and raided it, and I have nightmares of it every single night,” Weinert said.
