Modesto, Turlock optometrist pleads guilty to $550,000 in health care fraud

A local optometrist with offices in Modesto and Turlock pleaded guilty to committing $500,000 in health care fraud, according to the office of U.S. Attorney Phillip A. Talbert.

United States District Judge Jennifer Thurston will determine Dr. Carole Sachs’ sentence March 6, according to a news release from Talbert’s office.. Dr. Sachs could face a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine.

Dr. Sachs, 78, pleaded guilty to charges that $550,000 of services that were never provided were billed to Medicare over nearly four and a half years, according to Attorney Talbert’s office..

Sachs received more than $295,000 for fraudulent “insertion of amniotic membrane” procedures. The surgical process is a popular new method of eye tissue preservation, according to the National Library of Medicine.

“Sachs paid the money back in restitution prior to entering her guilty plea,” according to the news release.

Court documents show Sachs’ fraud began in November of 2016 and ended in February 2021, the release said.

The Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General, the FBI and California’s Department of Health Care Services took part in the investigation, according to the news release.