Posted on 12/27/2006 10:45:02 AM PST by Jo Nuvark
Manufactured for Money
How slick lawyers have turned a genuine health crisis into a ripoff you won't believe.
Dr. George (snip) Martindale's name was on several thousand documents claiming people suffered from an incurable work-related respiratory disease. (Attorney Daniel) Mulholland asked Martindale if he had ever intended his work to be used as an official diagnosis in a lawsuit or for any other purpose. "No, sir," he replied. (snip) Martindale went on to explain his role in what a federal court concluded was a massive legal scam.
He had expanded his radiology practice by becoming a certified "B-reader," which meant his evaluations of chest x-rays could be used in court. Martindale was providing his assessments to N&M, a screening company in Pascagoula, Mississippi, run by a junior college dropout that administered tests to diagnose silicosis or asbestosis, two unrelated diseases at the heart of a nationwide explosion of lawsuits.
(Excerpt) Read more at rd.com ...
BUMP!
I can't wait to see how the scumbag Democrats will raise my taxes.
A much bigger ripoff is Social Security disability fraud. And it's much easier to catch crooked docs because they form documented relationships with lawyers--yet we continue to be ripped off.
big ping
That's certainly an aspect of it, but I think there's a general agreement that everyone in that circle prospers greatly from government largesse -- and the lawyers' malpractice threats! I'm 100% for tort reform if it can be accomplished without protecting real medical quacks.
My doctor sure doesn't work for a hospital! He's part-owner of large medical corporation and rakes in big bucks. I don't particularly resent that: I wouldn't want his hours or responsibilities. Bottom line I feel the system is overused by some, not open at all to others. If those inequities continue, socialized/government medicine will be a certainty under the coming Democrat regime.
"If the government's giving away free cheese (remember that?), even rich people who hate cheese will line up and fight each other for some to take back to their Cadillacs."
They will then complain about the low quality of the free cheese.
Couldn't have said it better myself.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.