I'm sure some of you are aware of the situation regarding Dr. L in NJ. Here is a link for the article in the paper.
I am not posting his name here, but you can read the article since it is public record.
This is what tarnishes the name of good LLMd's. I went to this Dr. and now I am questioning whether my insurance company was right all along.
They were suspect of his excessively high rates regarding charges and his actual protocols. I think they did me a favor by cutting me off. Who knows what kind of advanatge he could have been taking of his patients or insurance companies.
A crook is a crook anyway you want to word it!
http//:www.thehammontonnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/section?
Posted by treepatrol (Member # 4117) on :
Thank you for fixing the link! I couldn't figure out how to do it so you could just click on it. Appreciate the help for those of us who are computer illiterate!
Posted by treepatrol (Member # 4117) on :
Your welcome Posted by TerryK (Member # 8552) on :
I don't know the doctor personally but I wouldn't be so quick to judge. Not everything printed in a newspaper is accurate. In addition, these are "alleged" charges which means he is not proven guilty yet.
Pitnum wrote: I went to this Dr. and now I am questioning whether my insurance company was right all along.
I don't know all of the particulars of your insurance company denial but if an insurance company denied paying a doctor because he was treating lyme disease with a protocol that is not accepted by the IDSA, then even *if* the doctor himself is guilty of tax evasion, that does not mean the insurance company was right to deny payment. Most of the time, my insurance company does not pay the full charges of any doctor that I've seen. That is not unusual.
I've seen many accounts of the IRS holding people accountable, who actually had no knowledge of a crime being committed. For all we know, the person who handles his office finances or his partner could have been the guilty party.
Anyone can turn someone in to the IRS. This could be another way of harrasing lyme doctors.
I just read another post in this forum this morning where a doctor was smeared in the newspaper and apparently this contributed to his decision to kill himself. I'm not saying this doctor is innocent but I'm saying it's reasonable to wait before passing judgement.
Terry
Posted by SForsgren (Member # 7686) on :
I agree with Terry. If we believe half of what we read about Dr. J or Dr. J (yes, the two Dr J's), one would wonder. Clearly lots of misinformation out there. Personally, if a doctor can help someone with LD, I doubt they care whether or not he/she paid their taxes... Posted by Michelle M (Member # 7200) on :
Well, I find it very interesting that the article begins "Doctor noted for lyme disease treatment..."
Do you suppose it would have been so newsworthy if it had started out
"Doctor noted for nephrology charged with ... "
or
"Doctor noted for podiatry practice pled guilty to..."
NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO.
It's just when the word 'lyme' shows up, it has to get sensational.
It shouldn't even be worth mentioning, since it's irrelevant to whether he paid his taxes or not.
My .02.
Michelle
Posted by Troup Brazelton (Member # 6297) on :
Will this case be the first one where an insurance company outs a doctor for tax evasion?
Certainly not their line of work!
Posted by Pitnum (Member # 4906) on :
I am not being quick to judge here. He was in fact found guilty of theses charges and will be sentenced in Feb.
I know this happened because I was a patient at the time and the staff was well informed. My point was that if he will cheat the government out of taxes for years and think he can get away with it, who's to say he wouldn't cheat the insurance companies or patients if he could get away with it.
I now realize the insurance company was justified in their skepticism of him......I just wish I had known it sooner. I am all for protecting the LLMD's.....at the same time, I am all for outing the corrupt ones!
Posted by Areneli (Member # 6740) on :
We don't need bad LLMDs and it is to our advantage that the bad onces are removed from practicing medicine.
Still there is no judgment on this one.
Posted by TerryK (Member # 8552) on :
Pitnum, Sorry, I didn't get that he had already been found guilty of income tax evasion. The article goes on and on about alleged charges in the indictment but the first paragraph does say that he has been found guilty.
I wonder how much he knew about what was going on since his office manager and partner was also charged with personal income tax evasion and he wasn't? I think a lot of people end up taking responsibiltiy to the IRS for other people's actions. I've heard it over and over and seen it on news programs as well. Not to say that is what happened here but it wouldn't surprise me if it were.
I hate to see another llmd go down for any reason but if he is really a crook then of course he has to pay.
Just to clarify, I agree, we don't need bad LLMD's but if it were me, I'd probably try to get more info before discarding him as an llmd. Terry
Posted by TerryK (Member # 8552) on :
Pitnum wrote: I now realize the insurance company was justified in their skepticism of him......I just wish I had known it sooner.
You said you wish you had known it sooner. Just wondering why? Do you feel you were mistreated by him?
Terry
Posted by Pitnum (Member # 4906) on :
I honestly can't say I was mistreated by him personally. For some reason, that I still do not know the answer to.....in the 3 months that I went to this facility (and I went from daily to 3 times a week)I only saw the doctor 2 times! Every other visit was with the physician assistant(even the intial evaluation).
There were many red flags raised during my treatment that I won't get in to now. But, I am more skeptical now knowing the outcome of his trial. It makes me seriously wonder that's all.
Posted by TerryK (Member # 8552) on :
OK, I was curious about this doctor so I did a bit of searching around and found that preceeding all of this, LymeCare (his clinic) went bankrupt probably in part or maybe because Blue Cross refused to pay his clinic for services that he rendered to lyme patients. This occurred the year before the income tax evasion took place.
Apparently Horizen Blue Cross refused to pay because his diagnosis and treatment did not agree with their policies. The year after he went bankrupt, he didn't pay taxes etc... This is a 45 page document and I didn't read the whole thing but it seems clear that he probably had to go bankrupt because he did not get reimbursed for treating lyme patients. http://www.njb.uscourts.gov/chambers2/wizmur/03jw003p_98-18746_lyme_care-Horizon_bcbs.pdf
Maybe he is crooked or maybe he got into trouble for treating lyme patients. If he were my doctor and still treating lyme patients, I'd probably keep seeing him unless I was unhappy with the specifics of his treatment.
My fibro doctor (one of the few in my area) often has patients see his Physicians assistant. That way he can serve more fibro patients since many need treatment for pain etc.. and there is almost no one around here who will do it. I personally would not hold that against him unless I felt I wasn't get appropriate care. Terry
![[Big Grin]](biggrin.gif)
So heres one that works ![[woohoo]](graemlins/woohoo.gif)
![[Smile]](smile.gif)