BREAKING

 Abraham loses appeal
 against fraud conviction

By David Baker
Posted Thursday April 26, 2012

A former doctor who was sentenced to 4 to 12 years in prison last year after being found guilty of insurance fraud related toa fire that destroyed a nightclub building he owned has lost an appeal. The Appellate Division of state Supreme Court today ruled that the verdict against Akiva Abraham was not against the weight of the evidence and sent the case back to the trial court.

Abraham is also facing a separate civil lawsuit in which it is alleged that he performed an unnecessary surgery without a patient's consent.  The suit also names Samaritan Hospital, alleging that the hospital was negligent in repeatedly granting privileges to Abraham when it knew or should have known that he was unfit to practice medicine.

The six-year-old lawsuit was reported exclusively on this blog's sister Web page, www.capitaldistricthealthclaims.com in February.  Appeals of two decisions in that case, one against the hospital and one against the plaintiff, are pending in the Appellate Division.  The case is scheduled for a trial in July.

Abraham, a gynecologist, had his medical license revoked by the state in 2006, which cited 34 counts of misconduct.  His appeal of the revocation also was rejected by the mid-level  appeals court.

A story about today's appeal decision has been posted on the Times Union's website. But as in numerous previous stories the paper has published about Abraham since 2005, there is no mention of the lawsuit in which Abraham and Samaritan Hospital are co-defendants.

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