Americans spend hundreds of billions of dollars on unnecessary health care each year, so even though the $19 million fraud to which New York and New Jersey cardiologist Dr. Jose Katz pleaded guilty on Wednesday set a record for both states, it’s tiny by comparison. Prosecutors say Katz, who “spent $6 million advertising on Spanish-language television and radio to try to lure in patients,” purposefully misdiagnosed patients so he could treat them and their worst fears about medicine could be realized.
