If you can't trust a doctor....

This is in the Miami Herald:

A Miami physician was sentenced Monday to eight years in prison after admitting he fraudulently prescribed HIV therapy for Medicare patients who didn't need or get the treatment, costing the government program millions of dollars.

Dr. Roberto Rodriguez, 54, was ordered by U.S. District Judge Paul Huck to pay more than $9 million in restitution to Medicare. Rodriguez was co-owner of Midway Medical Center and director of other local HIV infusion clinics, where he and five convicted co-conspirators recruited patients, paid kickbacks and manipulated records to bilk Medicare, records show.

Rodriguez admitted his clinics submitted more than $20 million in false claims to Medicare from October 2003 to February 2005.

Another physician in the racket, Dr. Carmen del Cueto, is scheduled to be sentenced in September.

Any readers want to offer a word of praise for good Florida HIV docs, either by personal experience of through word of mouth? This ought to be on a "Best of" annual list.