North Carolina cardiologist arrested for sex crimes
A cardiologist in Carolina Beach, North Carolina, has been arrested and charged with indecent liberties with a child and first-degree statutory sexual offense.
Damian Brezinski, 61, was brought in to custody Friday, May 3, according to the New Hanover County Sheriff’s Office. He is currently in New Hanover County Jail on a bond worth $1.5 million and awaiting his next trial date, which is expected to be Monday, May 6.
No other details about Brezinski’s arrest or his alleged crimes are available at this time.
Image courtesy of the New Hanover County Sheriff’s Office.
After working with Wilmington Health Associates for nearly 25 years, Brezinski opened his own private practice, Island Cardiology.
In 2019, he made headlines when he and Wilmington Health agreed to pay more than $244,000 to the U.S. government to settle claims that he performed unnecessary stent procedures on multiple patients from 2010 to 2014 and then billed those procedures to Medicare and Tricare.
“The United States takes healthcare fraud very seriously,” said U.S. Attorney Robert J. Higdon Jr. said at the time. “Nowhere is that more true than when doctors knowingly perform medical procedures that their patients do not need."
Michael has more than 18 years of experience as a professional writer and editor. He has written at length about cardiology, radiology, artificial intelligence and other key healthcare topics.