I'm just fascinated by the scope of the feds case against this guy. From the US Attorney's office press release, Ehlen had a judgement against him for $487 million, due to "64,575 false claims submitted to Medicare due to the Defendants’ conduct, which resulted in $43,694,641.71 in damages to Medicare."

Ehlen was apparently providing kickbacks to physicians to use products from his medical distribution company (Precision Lens), specifically items used in cataract surgeries. Kickbacks were in the form of high-end trips for physicians, (skiing, golf, hunting, etc), amongst other things.

65k claims resulting in $44 million in damages to Medicare works out to a little less than $700 a claim. Everything associated with medical care in the US seems to be awash in dubious charges, so interesting that the feds were able to pin such a high number of small claims on one man.

The press release from the feds also mentions related cases that had previously been settled, one for $3 million and one for $12 million. Ehlen's $487 million judgment comes after almost a decade of litigation. I'm no legal expert, but my understanding is that when the feds come after you, if you roll over and take it, you might be able to fiscally recover. If you chose to "fight city hall," they'll throw everything at you and see what sticks. Seems like in this case maybe Ehlen tried to fight, and lost. Would be interested to hear more about the background of this case, and what drove Ehlen to fight for so long.