2 More Doctors Face Profiteering Counts

Two more Orange County doctors have been accused of profiteering from fake billings and unnecessary testing in one of the largest cases of medical insurance fraud in the state, authorities announced Friday.

The Medical Board of California, which monitors the professional conduct of the state’s physicians, has filed formal disciplinary actions against Dr. Jerry E. Corners of Fountain Valley and Dr. Bernard Horowitz of Anaheim.

Corners and Horowitz worked for Kent W. Lehman, a Garden Grove physician whose string of eight medical clinics in north Orange Country has become the target of a major investigation by state authorities.

On Oct. 10, the medical board filed charges against Lehman based on complaints by patients, insurance companies, the Orange County Medical Assn. and a review of more than 50 cases from 1985 to 1988.

Investigators allege that Corners and Horowitz participated in a system set up by Lehman in which the doctors earned up to $100,000 over their $68,000 base salaries by receiving a percentage from laboratory tests they ordered.

Corners is accused of performing thousands of dollars in unnecessary tests and procedures on seven patients from 1985 to 1988. In one case, a patient complaining only of a sore throat was allegedly billed $803 for unneeded tests and exams.

Horowitz faces similar allegations, including the case of a 48-year-old man whose insurance company was billed almost $2,350 for 40 tests and procedures that were not related to his complaints about neck, shoulder and back pain.

If found guilty, the doctors could face probations, suspensions or the revocation of their medical licenses.