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Elderly audiologist heads to prison
FRESNO December 15, 2009 12:03am 
• Ripped off Medicare • Unwarranted and unnecessary hearing tests Adam Sortini, 88, of Merced, is headed to six months in federal prison for defrauding Medicare.
In addition to time behind the walls, Mr. Sortini must also be confined to his home for 15 months and pay restitution of $100,000.
Last month a jury found him guilty of submitting false billings for audiology services.
Mr. Sortini visited skilled nursing facilities throughout Northern California and billed for hearing tests that were not reimbursable by Medicare because they were routine in nature and were performed without a referring physician’s order, according to Assistant U.S. Attorneys Kirk Sherriff and Stanley Boone, who prosecuted the case.
He did not perform all of the tests for which he billed Medicare, and when he was audited by Medicare, he submitted forged physician referrals to justify his Medicare billings, prosecutors say.
He also billed Medicare for unwarranted and unnecessary hearing tests, including tests for patients with severe mental deterioration including Alzheimer’s disease, dementia, and senility, and claimed on certain days to have tested between 25 and 50 or more patients at skilled nursing facilities located more than 100 miles apart.
He billed and was paid hundreds of thousands of dollars for these services.
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