Mediscams : Dangerous Medical Practices and Health Care Frauds--and How to Prevent Them from Harming You and Your Family

by Whitlock, Chuck

• ISBN13: 9781580631808
• ISBN10: 1580631800
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2001-09-08
• Publisher: Renaissance Books

Summary

How to spot and avoid healthcare scams, medical frauds, and quackery, from the local physician to the major healthcare providers and drug manufacturers Phony cancer treatments, HMO incompetence and greed, useless diet creams, worthless "vitamin" pills, and life-endangering "cures" . . . don't get mad, get informed! A crusading, award-winning investigative reporter for television newsmagazines Extra, Hard Copy, and Inside Edition, Chuck Whitlock leads you into the underworld of MediScams. Here, medical chicanery, good intentions gone bad, and unrepentant greed combine to consume America's healthcare dollars by the billions. Are you in need? The MediScam artists are there with false promises of therapies, cures, and treatments. "Provocative, disturbing, and refreshingly not sensationalist, this book offers a hard look inside the world of health care and offers specific tips that readers can use to safeguard their health." -Publishers Weekly A shocking and unnerving work,MediScamsblows the whistle on healthcare "professionals" hawking "scientifically proven" treatments that turn out to be fradulent. Whitlock reveals the dirty secrets of health maintenance organizations and pharmaceutical houses. His exposeacute; of the mistreatment of patients and of Medicaid and Medicare fraud has shed light on the seedy underside of nursing home operations. Whitlock is relentless in his pursuit of those who abuse the public trust. And he isn't afraid of pointing out the serious malpractice that goes on even in the offices of "respectable" physicians. In MediScams, Whitlock gets in the face of: - supplement manufacturers who cite only selective testing labs and portions of legitimate research to back up their fraudulent claims - bogus plastic surgeons-particularly the enormous number who operate without licenses or medical degrees - the research charlatans who recklessly dispense compounds, powders, pills, and placebos - the carnies and hucksters who live off dental MediScams and nursing home rip-offs - fraudulent doctors-yours may be one of them MediScamswill scare you, but more importantly, it will make you want to take action. It will show you how easily you may be taken in by those who seem to care. All true and all documented, this book is thoroughly annotated, citing the arrests and convictions of the small percentage of those who get caught. An appendix provides a comprehensive resource list of private, professional, and government agencies that offer information and consumer guidance, along with agencies that help victims of fraud.

Author Biography

Chuck Whitlock is a nationally recognized investigative reporter whose investigations into white-collar crime and exposTs of nursing home and Medicare irregularities have garnered him national recognition. A tireless scambuster and consumer advocate, he has appeared on such television shows as Oprah, Hard Copy, and Regis and Kathie Lee. He is currently in negotations with Fox to air his TV show, Crimeline. Whitlock is also the author of five previous books. He lives in southwestern Washington State.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments	xi
Foreword	xiii
Introduction	xv
Every Patient's Nightmare	23	(12)
Meet the Man Called ``America's Worst Doctor'' John Ronald ``Butcher'' Brown
A Brief History of MediScams	35	(20)
From Snake Oil to Cancer Quackery
Managed Care-The Biggest MediScam of All?	55	(20)
Putting a Price on Human Lives
Dangerous Doctors	75	(24)
Physicians Are Supposed to Police Each Other-Why Don't They Do a Better Job of It?
When ``M.D.'' Means ``Money Doctor''	99	(18)
Don't Let Your Doctor Rip You Off
Lying with Science	117	(18)
Just Because They Tell You It's ``Scientifically Proven'' Doesn't Mean It Is
Marketing MediScams	135	(18)
Fraud as a Multimedia Event
What on Earth?	153	(14)
Turning the Planet into Scam Cures
Plastic Surgery---The MediScammers' Newest Target	167	(14)
The Price of Vanity Can Be Crippling-or Worse
Potent or Placebo?	181	(18)
Will the Real Cures Please Stand Up?
Nursing Homes ... or Warehouses for the Elderly?	199	(16)
Surely Our Parents Deserve Better than This
Shopping for Supplements	215	(24)
Buying a Pig in a Poke
Dental MediScams	239	(14)
Taking a Bite Out of Your Wallet
Spotting the MediScams	253	(14)
The Telltale Tip-offs and Profiles of Medical Quacks and Their Victims
Final Thoughts	267	(2)
Appendix: Resources	269	(18)
Selected Bibliography	287