I was outraged to see how casually Doctors were prepared to issue fake sick leave certificates for striking workers in Wisconsin. And those that were accosted by reporters were so arrogantly defensive and refused to demonstrate one iota of shame or regret. I found this attitude in Doctors of all people absolutely appalling. I was pleased therefore to come across an article in the Journal of the Association of American Physicians and Surgeons expressing condemnation of their Wisconsin colleagues. The Association’s executive director Jane Orient, M.D. had this to say-

“Physicians who sign their name to a false statement are compromising their professional integrity,” said Orient, although the Wisconsin union supporters seem to believe that the end justifies the means. The penalties can be very severe; for Medicare or Medicaid fraud, they include delicensure, draconian fines, and lengthy prison terms.

Public employees are forbidden to strike. A sick-out is the functional equivalent of a strike. Teachers who ask for a false excuse, and physicians who knowingly provide one, are both subverting the law intended to protect the public against suspension of essential services.

The Lady Doctor is damn right, and I hope to hell the doctors who issued the fake notes are tracked down and charged with fraud and if convicted, deregistered. This is not only an outrageously dishonest act it brings every other doctor’s integrity into question and thereby undermines so many other procedures where the public depends so strongly upon that integrity.

The other interesting thing about the report is that almost every other comment (that appear to have been left by other doctors) condemns the Wisconsin doctors too. Example comment from a Pharmacist-

I strongly believe that any doctor that has falsely written excuses to any person for reason of getting sick pay or some other benefit, should be prosecuted to the maximum extent of the law. This also sets a terrible example to the young students these teachers are supposed to be teaching. So it’s okay to lie and cheat when you become an adult? Someone should be investigating this!

The full report is here.