Today I had to call the Department of Children and Families to file a report on a child-patient who seemed in imminent danger.
Before being connected with the Child Abuse Hotline representative, I listened to a series of automated messages. Here's one:
Any person who knowingly and willingly makes a false
report will be convicted of a third-degree felony, and may
be subjected to imprisonment and fines up to $10,000.
Why aren't there fines or penalties imposed on individuals who "knowingly and willingly" make false statements about doctors, or involve law enforcement in investigations based on misleading information?
Right now, there are only benefits for people who make frivolous allegations against doctors (and other businesses)--benefits such as whistleblower bonuses, rather than false reporting fines. This serves as an incentive for individuals hoping to make a cheap dime (there's nothing material to lose) by putting doctors in the line of fire.
The government penalizes people for calling in false reports about child abuse (even though there are no incentives for legitimate reports), but it gives incentives to people for filing reports (it takes a single phone call) against businesses and doctors--many of whom feel demoralized and end up plea-bargaining, guilty or not, after which a portion of the settlement money goes to whistleblowers--and there's never a court case to determine whether the report had ever been justified in the first place.
Never mind that such allegations, followed by gestapo-type hold-ups after which government agents are not required to show cause, ruin people, destroy businesses, and erode the very backbone of this country, which owes most of whatever solvency it can claim to the integrity and entrepreneurial success of small businesses, like mine.
Before being connected with the Child Abuse Hotline representative, I listened to a series of automated messages. Here's one:
Any person who knowingly and willingly makes a false
report will be convicted of a third-degree felony, and may
be subjected to imprisonment and fines up to $10,000.
Why aren't there fines or penalties imposed on individuals who "knowingly and willingly" make false statements about doctors, or involve law enforcement in investigations based on misleading information?
Right now, there are only benefits for people who make frivolous allegations against doctors (and other businesses)--benefits such as whistleblower bonuses, rather than false reporting fines. This serves as an incentive for individuals hoping to make a cheap dime (there's nothing material to lose) by putting doctors in the line of fire.
The government penalizes people for calling in false reports about child abuse (even though there are no incentives for legitimate reports), but it gives incentives to people for filing reports (it takes a single phone call) against businesses and doctors--many of whom feel demoralized and end up plea-bargaining, guilty or not, after which a portion of the settlement money goes to whistleblowers--and there's never a court case to determine whether the report had ever been justified in the first place.
Never mind that such allegations, followed by gestapo-type hold-ups after which government agents are not required to show cause, ruin people, destroy businesses, and erode the very backbone of this country, which owes most of whatever solvency it can claim to the integrity and entrepreneurial success of small businesses, like mine.
I've enjoyed your blog. Your battle with the feds reads like a novel. This post got me thinking about your experiences with the federal government. Is there any chance that the asset seizure was a result of evidence gathered from the raid on your current clinic and not related to the lawsuit initiated by the purchaser of your Hawthorne clinic?
ReplyDeleteThe asset seizure, like the raid, had little if no basis in evidence. As my lawyers explained, it takes almost nothing in the way of evidence to persuade a judge to allow FBI agents to stage a seizure or to forfeit bank accounts. It takes much, much more evidence, organized properly, to indict a person. There is no evidence whatsoever to justify an indictment of me or my business, and if the government manages to indict me, they will certainly have to prove in a court of law that they had reason do so. But you know what? They won/t have proof, because there isn't any--not from my current clinic, and not from my Hawthorne clinic. Those agents banked on a psychopath's "report"--and we all know how persuasive good psychopaths can be. Those agents and the prosecutor will find, if they educate themselves about the billing, coding, and decision-making process in the medical profession, that not only has there been no wrongdoing on my part, but that I have taken great pains to provide the most thoughtful, comprehensive assessments of my patients, based on their symptomatology and risks. I repeat: there is no evidence to justify what the government did, and there isn't anything to justify an indictment. If there's something in their magic hat, I must have been asleep the past twelve years. And I know that's not the case.
ReplyDeleteI forgot to mention one other possibility, but it's so outrageous it can't even be a consideration. The government could LIE about evidence in order to seal an indictment against me. But I know that would never happen. After all, I trust our government. Don't you?
ReplyDelete