WOLF: Organized medical fraud in Wisconsin

The Washington Times ^ | February 25, 2011 | Dr. Milton R. Wolf

[jazusamo]

“Primum nil nocere.” First, do no harm. This bedrock principle in medicine is a foreign language to most politicians and, sadly, to some Wisconsin doctors, who have violated their oath and the public trust as they have defrauded Wisconsin taxpayers.

Several University of Wisconsin family physicians donned their sacred white coats and were caught distributing fraudulent “sick notes” free for the asking quite literally by the boxful - I wonder who paid for that printing - to teachers and others who skipped work to engage in political protest at the state Capitol in Madison. Whatever the merits of the teachers’ protest, there’s a word for what these doctors and teachers are perpetrating: fraud.

An army of citizen-journalist bloggers, including Tim Daniels of Left Coast Rebel and Ann Althouse, captured and publicized photographs and video allegedly of publicly funded University of Wisconsin doctors Kathy A. Oriel, James H. Shropshire, Lou Sanner, Hannah M. Keevil, Patrick McKenna and Elizabeth Kvach as they disseminated these fraudulent notes to Wisconsin’s publicly funded teachers so the teachers could have a publicly funded day off.

~snip~

Dr. Paul Hsieh, co-founder of Freedom and Individual Rights in Medicine, spots an alarming trend: “[A] new form of medical ethics is being taught in medical schools that tells doctors to place the needs of ‘society’ ahead of individual patients. At best, it forces doctors to juggle the truth and the interests of their patients alongside ‘social’ considerations. At worst, it will give them license to sacrifice their professional integrity (and their patients’ interests) in the name of ‘society.’ “

[jazusamo]

Dr. Wolf says it well.

[katiedidit1]

Take the license away from every one of the sobs

[jazusamo]

I believe that’s warranted. If you can’t believe in the integrity of your MD s/he should be in a different line of work.

[FormerACLUmember]

All these quacks were ObamaCare supporters.

As a taste of their ObamaCare, the patients arriving to see the unethical docs found their offices closed.

Priorities.

[bigbob]

Gotta keep this fire burning and not let this fraud be forgotten.

True medical professionals are outraged by this and reject it, regardless of their own politics.

[Joe 6-pack]

If fake sick notes were legalized, teachers wouldn’t have to resort to getting them in back alleys.

[savagesusie]

Yep...Hippocratic Oath can no longer be recited because of abortion. Doctors allowed to kill a human being now really says it all.

The ethics of the medical field is being changed since Dewey to the Marxist model, so they can euthanize and play god in the communist state. I guess they are being trained for the Brave New World, zero is trying to impose on us.

This filthy communist ideology has to be cleansed from our schools and government. Since when did we allow communists to be in public office? What communist changed the rules....they can not truthfully take the oath of office so WHY are they allowed to be Senators, etc.?

They need to be dragged from office.

[jazusamo]

Absolutely, and I don’t blame them in the least. This reflects badly on the profession and it is not deserved by the vast majority of MD’s.

[lightman]

Charge them with forgery, unsworn falsifications, and criminal conspiracy.

Then bring Federal RICO charges against them and the union bosses.

[Venturer]

They should be stripped of their license to practice medicine and dismissed from the University.

These supposedly intelligent Doctors. How could they do such a stupid , stupid thing.

[truthguy]

They should be stripped of their license to practice medicine and dismissed from the University.

I don't have a clue as to what charges these Doctors could face but it would seem to me at the VERY MINIMUM they have violated their oath and would be subject to some fairly serious penalties by the medical board. I doubt it would go as far as criminal but then again I'm out of my area of expertise.

[P-Marlowe]

I don't have a clue as to what charges these Doctors could face

Criminal conspiracy to defraud the State of Wisconsin. These notes were given out fraudulently with the intended purpose of having these teachers submit them in order to get paid sick pay on a day when their pay should have been docked for unexcused absence.

If any of these teachers submitted the notes to their employer, then they could lose their teaching license and go to jail for felony conspiracy to commit fraud and larceny.

The doctors are accessories before the fact and are also guilty of criminal conspiracy. In most states a conspiracy to commit a misdemeanor is a felony. So even if the larceny does not rise to the level of a felony, the conspiracy between the doctor and the teacher brings the crime up to the level of a felony.

[buccaneer81]

These supposedly intelligent Doctors. How could they do such a stupid , stupid thing.

I've asked that since 22 January 1973 (Roe v. Wade.)

[fuzzthatwuz]

I read somewhere that one of the doctors wrote a prescription that his patient, a state employee, was in stress,and provided a written medical recommendation (prescription) to substantiate the employee's work absence.

If a written physician's work absence "excuse" is submitted by the protester (state employee) the State of Wisconsin should require a written psychological evaluation and clearance for that same employee to return to work.

The State of Wisconsin, or any other employing entity, cannot assume the liability a medically diagnosed "stressed" employee represents. All attending physicians should be subpoenaed to testify at a future personnel hearing with the "stressed" employee enjoying accumulated sick leave until final disposition.

[Pining_4_TX]

Boo-yah!

Do you think this will happen? How much fun is that? :-)

[Intolerant in NJ]

Concerned Wisconsinites may want to contact the Medical Examining Board at the Department of Regulation and Licensing as well as the University of Wisconsin, which, evidently, has overfunded its family practice department sufficiently to send its staff to political rallies...they also might contact the Joint Commission on the Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations in Chicago - that body would have probably reviewed and passed on the quality of care at the University of Wisconsin Hospital, and is very interested in how the Hospital maintains professional and practice standards of its physician staff - the possibility that its accreditation status might be put in jeopardy by what some of its staff doctors did should get the University's attention......

[Venturer]

I consider Doctors who do abortions to be butchers, not genuine Doctors.

[Popman]

Americans should brace themselves for more social activism under Obamacare. Dr. Donald Berwick, President Obama‘s choice to head Medicare, advocates the alarming notion that “this isolated relationship [between doctor and patient] is no longer tenable” without government intervention. Central planners will decide who is afforded treatment and how much, and their primary concerns will be dedicated to society rather than the patient.

The government primary concern because of social activism under Obamacare will be to get rid of the old and infirmed so we don't drive up the cost of medical care................sorry there are no death panels. I forgot