Posted on 02/22/2011 10:55:17 AM PST by fight_truth_decay
Some Wisconsin doctors have offered, at a public event, to write sickness excuses on request for protesting teachers, according to ABC News. A spokeswoman said that they knew they could “get in trouble,” but would take the risk because “teachers have no choice.”
The teachers’ choice is to go to work, or go without pay and risk being fired. “It’s the same choice faced by everyone in the world who can’t use someone else’s earnings to pay the bills,” said Jane Orient, M.D., executive director of the Association of American Physicians and Surgeons (AAPS).
“Writing a phony sickness excuse is fraud,” she said. Doctors are frequently under intense pressure to do this, or to misstate diagnoses, to “help” patients who want to collect sick pay, insurance payments, disability, or other benefits to which they are not lawfully entitled. For doctors to advertise their willingness to do so is, however, distinctly unusual.
“Physicians who sign their name to a false statement are compromising their professional integrity,” said Orient, although the Wisconsin union supporters seem to believe that the end justifies the means.
The penalties can be very severe; for Medicare or Medicaid fraud, they include delicensure, draconian fines, and lengthy prison terms.
Public employees are forbidden to strike. A sick-out is the functional equivalent of a strike. Teachers who ask for a false excuse, and physicians who knowingly provide one, are both subverting the law intended to protect the public against suspension of essential services.
Physicians, like other citizens, have the right to take a political stand. They may lawfully go to the protest, or contact their elected officials. Apparently, they are not contributing voluntarily to a fund to pay teachers who stay home, but want the taxpayers to do that.
Patients who respect their physician should not ask him to lie. And everyone should be questioning the wisdom of caving in to a pressure group that is willing to use professional lies as a tool to overturn the voice of the electorate, states Orient.
AAPS, which represents physicians in all specialties nationwide, believes in the sanctity of the patient-physician relationship and in the rule of law under the U.S. Constitution.
Did anyone (especially the sick teachers) check this guy’s credentials to make sure he really was a doctor?
George Costanza: [pause] Was that wrong? Should I not have done that? I tell you, I gotta plead ignorence on this thing, because if anyone had said anything to me at all when I first started here that that sort of thing is frowned upon... you know, cause I’ve worked in a lot of offices, and I tell you, people do that all the time.
They will obviously get away with it.
I hope like Hell this is a real doctor(s) and is prosecuted for fraud as well as those Communists that call themselves “teachers” that used such a fradulent note.
What are they going to say when the kids start handing in fake sick notes?
Well, this statement is a breath of fresh air.
I just joined AAPS.
Simple enough to cross check for fraud.
If 10,000 sick notes come in from Dr.X, given the obvious impossibility of seeing that many patients in a couple of days, they can subpoena his office records to see if folks w/notes actually visited, and if appropo insurance claims were filed for that visit.
Does that tee shirt have “Free Mustache Rides” printed on the back?
That this even has to be discussed “are they, aren’t they, should they, shouldn’t they?” is an indication of a serious breakdown in societal mores.
Really stupid.
Their WEA Trust cadillac plan probably provides for free sick notes with filing paperwork.
At first I thought it was AARP.... now that would be Breaking News!
The AAPS is the conservative version of the AMA.
The doctors who so publicly and happily committed fraud must
also have their billing and prescription
histories reviewed.
The Wisconsin Dept of Regulation and Licensing will be most responsible for investigating and disciplining the physicians involved.
Although, the hospitals where the fraudsters have privileges
could also begin an investigation , take their own disciplinary action
and refer their findings to the Board.
If Wisconsin fails to act on the egregious and unethical acts publicly committed and acknowledged by these physicians ,
they will look just as unethical and corrupt.
I can’t imagine the ethical Wisconsin physicians remaining silent if the Board fails to discipline the corrupt.
Expressing instability to a medical professional by a patient by all definition; but ignored by the alleged professional who has promised to perform oathful duties, but instead is acting on dishonest endeavours.
If it was proven to be a hoax or not that comes after the doctors first duty is to follow up on the care of the patient requesting professional "services"?
not sure. (mine would)
I saw a few people (all Women ) giving excuses of mental problems as to why they needed a slip from these Doctors. What Parent would want these crazies any where near their Child?
Many quit after AMA's support of ObamaCare. I noticed those AMA doctors can now up their incomes through incentive payments [1.5% of their Medicare fees for the year] by reporting to the government "quality information" in AMA's teaming up with Covisint, Detroit based Compuware Corp.
A regular free for all where rules, oaths and common sense no longer matters.
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