I wrote earlier about how an economy and culture in Eastern Kentucky so dependent on disability payments might so easily overlook, and even accommodate widespread abuses within our medical and legal structures. The “angioplasty abuse” that I and others have been writing about these past months unfolded in that setting. Full-fledged “disability abuse” is again emerging into the sterilizing light of day. It seems all you have to do to find these things, is look for them.
A flurry of media reports began yesterday focusing on a U.S. Senate investigative report accusing specific doctors, lawyers, and even judges of conspiring to inappropriately award disability to hundreds and even thousands of people. The scam could not have been more out in the open– billboards advised people to step right up and take advantage.
Stephen Ohlemacher reported prominently for the Associated Press, but the story is making the rounds in many venues. The matter plays well politically to those who would seek to gut any-and-all governmental safety net programs. (I am not one of them!) I have not been able to secure a copy of the actual Senate report, perhaps due to governmental furloughs. If anyone can help me, I will follow-up with more specifics.
I know a little about disability.
In my hands-on medical career as a rheumatologist, I had much personal experience with disability programs. Some people shop for accommodating physicians who will “award” them with a declaration of disability in the same way some patients doctor-shop for prescription narcotics. Continue reading “Disability-Abuse Alive and Well in Eastern Kentucky.”