Police Say Former Sarasota Doctor Lied To Patient About Diagnosis

SARASOTA, FL – Former Sarasota physician Ronald Wheeler, 71, has been arrested and charged with scheming to defraud a patient after falsely convincing the patient that he had prostate cancer and needed treatment.

Sarasota Police detectives said the patient contacted Wheeler in May 2016. At the time, Wheeler was a licensed, practicing physician at 1819 Main St., specializing in urology and the treatment of prostate cancer in Sarasota.

Without examining the patient, Wheeler told him over the phone that he likely had cancer and needed to start oral chemotherapy immediately.

The patient arranged to see Wheeler who gave him a physical exam and ultrasound but did not do a tissue biopsy, which is standard practice to confirm prostate cancer, according to the Florida Board of Medicine.

Detectives say Wheeler told the patient he had an aggressive form of prostate cancer and referred him to a colleague in Connecticut in June 2016. Doctors in Connecticut, however, told the victim that his tissue biopsy showed no signs of cancer. When the victim reported this finding to Wheeler, Wheeler told him they must have missed the cancer.

In August 2016, the victim wired $46,500 at Wheeler's request to pay for a High Intensity Focused Ultrasound procedure to cure his cancer. After a delay, the victim requested and received a refund.

Then, in November 2016, Wheeler told the patient that his HIFU procedure was back on schedule and the patient again transferred $46,500 to Wheeler.

In the meantime, the victim consulted with his personal physician who counseled him to find another provider. When he asked Wheeler for his money back a second time, Wheeler agreed at first but then stopped communicating with the victim.

Wheeler did not reveal to the patient that he was in danger of losing his medical license because of several cases of malpractice. On April 20, 2017, Wheeler's license was revoked. The victim learned Wheeler was no longer licensed to practice medicine when he visited another physician in Sarasota in June 2017. That physician also told the victim that he did not have cancer.

A warrant was issued for Wheeler’s arrest on Feb. 28, and he turned himself into the Sarasota County Jail on Monday, March 5.

Wheeler was previously arrested and charged with unlicensed practice of a health care professional in July 2017 after the Florida Department of Health received an anonymous complaint.

Since then, police say there have been numerous complaints concerning Wheeler to the health department.

Image via Sarasota Police