Yes, you. You make me grumpy. Pissed off. Wanting to leap across my desk at you, if you were to ever come back here again, which you won't.
You were here last week for a disability evaluation. You looked miserable. Your friend pushed you up here in a wheelchair, and you used a cane to get from the chair into my office.
You were very polite. You told me how nice I was. You said that I "wasn't like the other insurance company docs" you'd been sent to. You even brought Mary some chocolate-covered berries for working you in so quickly.
I could see you were trying to butter us up. I'm not that stupid. But you did seem legitimately suffering, and were quite patient while I reviewed the boatload of test results your company had sent me.
I've been doing this long enough that I could see you were exaggerating some things, but you did seem to have some real limitations.
Anyway, I didn't complete your disability report over the weekend. Sorry, but I was on call. I put it off until this week, and boy, am I glad I did.
A DVD from your insurance company showed up in my mail yesterday. I've been watching it.
It's kind of interesting. It actually shows you leaving my medical building last week, after the appointment. I guess you were in too much pain to see the camera guy following you around, huh?
It was kind of neat how you stood up and began walking as soon as you got to the parking garage. I kind of expected you to yell "Hallelujah! It's a miracle!" like they do on TV, but you didn't. You just folded up the wheelchair, handed the cane to your friend, and walked over to your car.
You'd told me that you hadn't been able to drive for a year, so it was kind of surprising watching you get behind the wheel. I guess with your miraculous recovery you had an itching to try out the old motoring skills, huh?
I then watched a boring clip of you going over to Local Grocery. No biggie. But I loved it when you drove to Home Depot. You told me you couldn't lift more then 5 pounds at a time. I haven't bought paint in a few years, but those big metal cans, I'm pretty sure, weigh more than that. And you were carrying one in each hand.
After you got home there's a few hours missing. Maybe you were inside recovering from the horrible pain you'd suffered heroically buying salad dressing and paint. But when you emerged carrying a ladder, and began painting your front porch, I just lost it.
So, as you requested, I've now completed the forms listing my findings and what I think the extent of your disability is. And I personally faxed them to your company. And called to make sure they got them.
Have a nice day.
47 comments:
That is crazy!
Dr G., I went out with an investigator , for quite some time, not long ago. (he had on video-workmans comp cases).He did this job for many years. I was amazed when he would show me, people who allegedly had chronic back pain or neck pain or both, and other alleged ailments, and would be changing a tire on a car. Went on a picnic and was the pitcher at a softball game. I could tell you more, but you get the picture. So many of these fools, try to scam the Docs, their insurances, and who knows whom else. (of course there are many who get away with it.) I am so glad, he was caught.(yes, I have seen videos of these idiots in court, when they are shown the videos. SO PRECIOUS) I would love to see the look on MR DUMBSHITS face, when he sees the video/dvd and won't get any compensation, and most likely fired, from his job. Was it really worth it MR DUMBSHIT? What an ASSWIPE you are for sure.
signed mm
this happens all the time insurance companies are getting smart he almost fooled the great Dr Grumpy
No dignity. I guess that is what it amounts to. So sad for the legitimately disabled. I say throw the guy in jail for attempted insurance fraud.
My husband actually does have a very bad back injury. He has had one surgery and is recommended for a fusion. He is a mechanic.
He still works, still climbs ladders, and beats himself up on a daily basis. He even buys salad dressing and paints our porch.
Doesn't mean he's not in some serious pain. all. the. time.
Even though this guy sounds like a d-bag doesn't mean all injured folks are. My hubs doesn't have another trade so until he can go back to school, he will suffer. I just hope people think before they judge.
On the other hand, he's not filing for disability.
Esmeralda- many people are legitimately disabled.
The trouble is that people like this one give them all a bed name. And take disability dollars away from those who need it. And make it harder for legitimate people to get disability.
We need to re-open Alcatraz for these leaches. Also for those who park in handicapped spaces.
Sounds like a borderline personality and scammer. Boooooooo.
I guess I didn't realize the extent to which the insurance companies went to catch these crooks. It's like parole officers tailing their parolees.
My mom-in-law had to go through quite a process for disability after he aneurysm. But there was no question that was legit.
Still, it would've been really cool to whip out this 8 inch needle on the guy and go, "Get up, or I'll shove this into your heart."
Does this make you want to slow down your processing of these requests on purpose just to allow time for these materials to reach you? Or are you able to revoke your approval within some time period if you get valuable information like this after the fact?
Too bad there's not a mechanism to check for this stuff by name when somebody new makes an appointment.
I hope the fancy candy was good, though!
I had no idea that this happened... how cool is that? Sounds like a great television show idea to me... starring you as the doctor... of course. Dr. Grumpy.... the new House.
I think I would love the job of following stupidity around with a video camera!
Had an investigating company for an office neighbor several years ago, we would get together to watch videos of comp claimants over lunch.
My favorite was the guy with "massive lower back injuries" (which limited his mobility and were a source of constant pain) who seemed quite capable of picking up his immense Harley and roaring off into the world. I guess the vibrations had a pallative effect...
Hubby might wander by and tell this story, but if he doesn't:
Elderly patient is wheeled into medicine clinic, surrounded by worried family members.
Doctor reads chart. "Why are you in a wheelchair?"
"They said I had a stroke."
"You had heat stroke. You can walk."
Patient and family erupt in euphoria. "I can walk! It's a miracle!"
You can't make this stuff up.
When I worked at the one of the federal prisions, we had an inmate do something along the same lines. Only he picked up his wheelchair, threw it down a few steps, took off his coat, laid down on his coat, and then started screaming bloody murder that he fell out of his wheelchair and needed something for 'all this pain!'. We had fun watching that video...and he was fined for wrecking government property....
some people are gems...
Anytime a patient is too friendly or compliments me for being soooooo smart, my "what are you up to" radar goes off. And it's rarely wrong. My poor husband can't even compliment me without a "what do you want?"
Grumpy, didn't you star in a movie with exactly this plot? Or am I mistaking that nice picture of you on the right for somebody else?
wow, how shady!!
Was the filmer just a PI person?
Christy- I have no idea.
What a douche. I'm glad you put the smack down on him. The hubby has a back problem and we're trying to put off surgery as long as possible. He's in the military and goes to work every day in pain (they offered to medicate him-he turned it down). If he can do it, so can that classless asshat.c
Marvelous! I love the "people are idiots" stories.
It amazes me some days that we came down out of the trees.
I'm in the process of trying to qualify for SSDI. People like this... yeah. Thanks, bud. You're the reason people like me have to wait months and months to get qualified as disabled.
Although this case sounds like a pure and simple fraud attempt it good to remember that insurance companies/PIs have been caught doing nasty things such as letting the air out of a suspects tire to trap them.
Being able to change a tire in an emergency does not of course prove much about ability to work 40 hour week at manual labor.
They have also been caught editing out the part of the tape where the claimant is carried away on a stretcher after being tricked to perform a task "proving" they were not injured.
That said many companies set themselves up for fraud cases:
I personally know of a woman who collected comp after happily accepted an assignment to the spray painting area after clearly stating "active asthma" on her job application.
Her smoking and weight did not help much either I suspect.
So does this mean he won't get free Percocet for life?
Bummer, dude!
It's kind of like when people want oxycontin or other narcotics for their "pain". They cry and shed tears because they need their pain meds...but as soon as the pills are in their hand, they are all smiles and pleasant.
Things like this just prove theories that almost all people with chronic pain are milking the system and us (docs, pharmacists, etc.) every way they can. And the rest of you, you're getting milked our of tax dollars at some point too.
I guess that plan went to hell in a hand basket. "Life suckers" is what i call those types.
I think my doctor's front desk lady has taken offense to my perma-perky voice. What she doesn't know is that I'm perma-perky-friendly due to it being a hazard of my employment...
...which is as someone who, also, works at a front desk.
Sometimes we're hyper-friendly just because we have to be to deal with the public All. Damn. Day.
Then we come on the intarweebs and bitch about it.
We're not all trying to get something... (but those who are need to be smacked)
Interesting. I am sure Mary and/or Annie are going to get one heck of a phone call when this "quack" is denied disability.
I would tell the gals to put him in Ed's Voice Mail and if he can't swim......to quote the words of my father, "He is shit out of luck!"
JS in IL
We once had the opposite happen--we watched a woman park in the lot, hop out of the driver's seat and drag her walker out of the car trunk. The closer she got to the building, the slower and weaker she moved.
By the time she got to our suite, she was putting on quite a show. She, of course, had no idea we can actually see out of the tinted windows, and was flabbergasted when the doc called her out on her BS.
Gee, Evil Receptionist, that's some tale.
As someone with joint problems I wouldn't know anything about what it's like to be ok to walk for a bit but then cope with slowly growing pain as things get worse and worse. That flexibility I had when I first got out of the car is gone 50 feet later when it's reached the point that I'm completely numb down one leg, which no longer wants to support me, or maybe a hip that screams with every minor movement. But, hey, if I could walk fine for the first 10 feet I should be fine all the way, right?
Thank god I've never had to deal with a medical office who accused me of faking it because I got progressively worse the longer I moved.
holy sh!t. just when i thought i'd heard of all the crazy-ass stunts people are willing to pull...now this?!
now i know why the disability people were such ardent asshats when i worked in the burn unit. but, come on, it's the BURN unit. you can *see* the disability (and horrible disfigurement). i always thought the insurance people were just cold. but dealing with people like this? wow. okay, maybe they can't believe even a burn is real. what a sucky job.
i like myoclonicjerk's suggestion: lock 'em up & throw away the key.
Hey, Moose, I have applied for SSDI too. Good luck with that! The process sucks, and jerks like the good doctor posted about makes it harder for people like us. I hope you get it and not have too many probs.
Hey, Dr G, thank you for writing that report. I am glad to see there are honest doctors out there weeding out fakes like him.
Moose, you are absolutely correct..I know better than most that there are people out there who are truly in pain and have trouble moving around.
Trust me when I tell you, this woman was not one of them.
Although it does sound like fraud in this case, I would like to point out that chronic pain patients are not "milking" the system. My true chronic pain patients never cry and whine to get meds early. They get their meds when they are due not early. And by having a spouse with chronic pain due to peripheral neuropathy, I understand that they can have good days and bad days. On good days, my spouse can do some "normal" things, like yard work. But only a bit, and then he pays for the "normal" activity for days. He is ususally in bed for 2-3 days afterward. Have some sympathy for these patients. They do "normal" things to feel normal and not helpless or worthless.
That's most of the patients my husband deals with on a day to day basis. I love me a subrosa video...
But they do make mistakes. One that sticks out in my mind was where they filmed a patient's daughter thinking it was the patient.
Sadly, it's the crooks that wreck it for honest injured people.
Call me naive but I find this hard to believe
Well, I guess Dr Prik doesn't sound quite like so much of a scammer relatively speaking.
Is there any way to report this person to the police for some sort of fraud?
Kim Kasch- more common than you'd think, actually.
I wouldn't get too jaded Dr. Grumpy. The insurance companies aren't out to help anyone. They have many ways they use to get between the doctor/patient relationship. They will try to bias you against the patient, and they have been known to do many unscrupulous things to make a legitimate sufferer look well. I think there are many people that could go and enjoy a picnic, but not be able to do a 40 hr. a week position. Some of these truly injured are suffering in more than just a physical manner. How would anyone like being followed around all hours of the day or night? The same psychological things can manifest as having a stalker with you, because....they are stalking.
@ Canadian Pharmacist:
You opined:
"Things like this [Dr. G's bogus disability guy?] just prove theories that almost all people with chronic pain are milking the system and us (docs, pharmacists, etc.) every way they can."
Since you did not qualify your statement, I will take it at face value.
"ALMOST ALL PEOPLE WITH CHRONIC PAIN ARE MILKING THE SYSTEM AND US...EVERY WAY THEY CAN."
In the first place, that's one hell of a leap - from Doc G's malingerer to "ALMOST ALL PEOPLE WITH CHRONIC PAIN ARE MILKING THE SYSTEM AND US...EVERY WAY THEY CAN." You should take up the long jump - I see Olympic gold in your future.
I fear you've developed a myopic view
of chronic pain patients stuck behind your pharmacy counter, so allow me to educate you and lift you from your ignorance.
Many chronic pain patients do not use narcotics for relief. I hope you're sitting down for this, but some patients don't even use Rx medications! I know this must be very difficult for you to comprehend given your Rx pill-centric perspective; but some ice, some use TENS units, and others have home traction units or go for PT.
Then there are the OTC users...Ever heard of Tylenol?
Next we come to the hard-core drug-addled junkie fucks who use Rx meds like Neurontin, Lyrica, and Lidoderm to control their pain. You claim to be a pharmacist - do you ever read JP's blog? He has peripheral neuropathy from standing behind the pharmacy counter for the last 40+ years, and he uses Neurontin to control his chronic pain. Do you include him in your excruciatingly asinine statement,
"ALMOST ALL PEOPLE WITH CHRONIC PAIN ARE MILKING THE SYSTEM AND US...EVERY WAY THEY CAN."?
Oh, let's not forget the needle people...you know, the steroid addicts - the ones who have epidurals and all other sorts of pain
management injections consisting largely of steroids with possibly a tiny amount of painkiller mixed in.
Next, we have chronic pain patients using opioids (which I personally don't feel is the best way to deal with CHRONIC pain). So what? So bloody fucking what? If a patient has exhausted every other means of relief to no good effect, there is no reason, with today's technology, for that patient to suffer needlessly.
And who's paying for the overwhelming majority of these chronic pain treatments? Insurance companies and individuals without insurance paying out of pocket. In terms of the big picture, the "system" is paying for a miniscule minority of the cost.
So you think Dr. G's bogus disability guy "just prove(s) theories that almost all people with chronic pain are milking the system and us (docs, pharmacists, etc.) every way they can."
It sounds like you've drank too much of the Angry Pharmacist's Kool-Aid.
Maybe it's not too late to get your stomach pumped.
Jesus Christ!
I found this site, Dr. G. What it's really like for injured workers. One thing to remember too, they were "working," they weren't free loading when injured. All these bad eggs get more air time. Innocent people are put through an awful process. The system is NOT good for protecting any injured worker.
http://ohioinjuredworker.blogspot.com/
I should have given this one: http://www.ohioinjuredworkeradvocacy.org/Ohio_Injured_Worker_Speaks.html
NO WAY!!!
This one is so far out there it's just plain crazy!!
Glad this faker got caught, and am in total agreement with Ay Chingada. I watched my dad suffer from Rheumatoid Arthritis, go in and out of remission, and fight endless with SSDI. It was a wonderful childhood. As someone who deals with chronic illness, chronic pain, works a full time job and pays her own bills, takes narcotic pain meds only when nothing else works and never, ever asks for them early, I'd like say to Canadian Pharmacist: Judgmental much?
I am a bit confused as to why oxycodone (Percocet? or Oxycontin?) is a abused drug.
I had it 3 days post complex major op, and it was revolting. nausea, vomit vomit, constipation!
Obviously I am missing some vital attractive feature about it.
I know this is besides the main point for posting this, but I had no IDEA that insurance companies would film people without their knowledge like this. I live in Canada, so the system is very different. Does anybody know if this happens here? The thought of it is creepy, and makes me really uncomfortable.
Here's a link to a story of what they do to injured workers.http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jHJiwnSzILc&feature=related
And yes, they do surveillance in Canada too looks like.
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