Phoney Sick Notes From WI MDs

[Annie]

Teachers do not get random vacation time nor are they permitted unpaid leave. They had to use sick time. I am not excusing it, but that's the only way they could have gone to the protest.

It's unprofessional excuses for such behavior that has undermined respect for us teachers that actually care about our students and reputations. It would be fine for the teachers to come when off school, write letters, emails to governor and representatives, contact union with petitions to present, ask for community support. But lying? Those teachers deserve what people think of them, unfortunately all will be tarred.

 

[boedicca]

if the system is trying to fuck the teachers, is it really SO wrong for the teachers to try to fuck the system?

And here we see the STARK MORALITY of Public Employee Unions: Fuck The System.

Thank you for clarifying it so succinctly.

 

[Annie]

Stress is a valid medical diagnosis.

Actually, it's not:

Wisconsin's Real Doctors and Their Fake Sick Notes for Protesters - Ford Vox - National - The Atlantic

Of course a rightwing blogger would say that.

According to the American Medical Association, stress is a factor in more than 75% of sickness today. And according to the World Health Organization, stress is America’s #1 Health Problem.

Stress Facts & Stats, Stress Statistics, Stress is Killing People, Stress Kills : Reduce Stress – Conquer Anxiety – MESICS Training – A Sound Mind In A Healthy Body

LOL! The Atlantic?

 

[Barb]

The doctors will be disbarred. WI State Bar is already looking into it.

Seems to me, calling in sick when you are not to be free to protest may be a form of embezzlement, Mini.

I had no idea these people were trying to get PAID for protesting. I am a tad pissed off.

Guess what? I don't get to call in sick without HUGE inconvenience to my co-workers. My sick days are part of my pay package, and if I don't use them they are NOT rolled over to the next year. I plan mine in advance to make room for scheduling and call in well. It isn't "embezzlement," but a way to collect my contracted paid time. Many companies combine it all under the heading comp time to compensate employees that come in if they feel good or not. Many more try to screw their employees out of whatever they can.

 

[Ravi]

xotoxi gave the ethical response, which Ravi wouldn't recognize if it slapped her on the ass and called her Judy.

so Xo wants to charge money for his services, he's is certainly welcome to do so.

Not all doctors are only about profit.

 

[manifold]

Never once have I been asked to produce a doctor's note for calling in sick.

Seems a bit draconian to me, especially since most of the time it's a common cold or stomach bug that doesn't justify a trip to the doctor's office.

 

[Oddball]

Patients present (express) the right symptoms, doctors write the note.
They aren't comp docs, they are gen practitioners...and members of their community...
if the system is trying to fuck the teachers, is it really SO wrong for the teachers to try to fuck the system?

There you have it, folks...The unabashed and blatant disregard for contractual agreements, the law and ethics that is part and parcel of the totalitarian left in America.

I find it quite refreshing that y'all are finally coming out of the closet.

 

[Missourian]

Teachers do not get random vacation time nor are they permitted unpaid leave. They had to use sick time. I am not excusing it, but that's the only way they could have gone to the protest.

The doctors committed fraud by handing out notes to people who clearly were not sick.

Stress is a valid medical diagnosis.

 

[boedicca]

xotoxi gave the ethical response, which Ravi wouldn't recognize if it slapped her on the ass and called her Judy.

so Xo wants to charge money for his services, he's is certainly welcome to do so.

Not all doctors are only about profit.

He said nothing about fees. You jumped to that conclusion.

Many doctors provide pro bono services for those who can't afford health care.

But in the teachers' cases, they are all covered by very rich health insurance policies (for which they pay nothing) at taxpayer expense.

Doctors are forbidden from treating patients without proper exams and then keeping documented records of the treatment. The WI Fraud Doctors violated these requirements.

 

[Ravi]

The teachers are protesting something dear to their hearts...the right to be heard by their employers.

If they accept the consequences that they can be fired for calling in sick then that is their choice to make.

A little civil disobedience is often a good thing...unless you're a rightwingloon, of course.

 

[Annie]

Never once have I been asked to produce a doctor's note for calling in sick.

Seems a bit draconian to me, especially since most of the time it's a common cold or stomach bug that doesn't justify a trip to the doctor's office.

I've taught in 3 schools, each absence that is more than 3 days required a note. In these circumstances, akin to a 'blue flu' work stoppage, I'd expect the districts to expect a note. It seems the DNC expected it too, so they had the doctors ready.

 

[Missourian]

Fresh air and exercise is an excellent anecdote to stress.

Holy Crap...I thought you were joking!

It's even funnier that you're serious.

 

[Annie]

The teachers are protesting something dear to their hearts...the right to be heard by their employers.

If they accept the consequences that they can be fired for calling in sick then that is their choice to make.

A little civil disobedience is often a good thing...unless you're a rightwingloon, of course.

I actually agree, if civil disobedience was their tactic. They could have called in saying they were going to be absent, following what was dear to their heart, not lying.

See Thoreau on Civil Disobedience and honesty.

 

[boedicca]

Even FDR recognized that Public Employees are in a special category and should not have collective bargaining rights or the right to strike:

My dear Mr. Steward:

As I am unable to accept your kind invitation to be present on the occasion of the Twentieth Jubilee Convention of the National Federation of Federal Employees, I am taking this method of sending greetings and a message.

Reading your letter of July 14, 1937, I was especially interested in the timeliness of your remark that the manner in which the activities of your organization have been carried on during the past two decades "has been in complete consonance with the best traditions of public employee relationships." Organizations of Government employees have a logical place in Government affairs.

The desire of Government employees for fair and adequate pay, reasonable hours of work, safe and suitable working conditions, development of opportunities for advancement, facilities for fair and impartial consideration and review of grievances, and other objectives of a proper employee relations policy, is basically no different from that of employees in private industry. Organization on their part to present their views on such matters is both natural and logical, but meticulous attention should be paid to the special relationships and obligations of public servants to the public itself and to the Government.

All Government employees should realize that the process of collective bargaining, as usually understood, cannot be transplanted into the public service. It has its distinct and insurmountable limitations when applied to public personnel management. The very nature and purposes of Government make it impossible for administrative officials to represent fully or to bind the employer in mutual discussions with Government employee organizations. The employer is the whole people, who speak by means of laws enacted by their representatives in Congress. Accordingly, administrative officials and employees alike are governed and guided, and in many instances restricted, by laws which establish policies, procedures, or rules in personnel matters.

Particularly, I want to emphasize my conviction that militant tactics have no place in the functions of any organization of Government employees. Upon employees in the Federal service rests the obligation to serve the whole people, whose interests and welfare require orderliness and continuity in the conduct of Government activities. This obligation is paramount. Since their own services have to do with the functioning of the Government, a strike of public employees manifests nothing less than an intent on their part to prevent or obstruct the operations of Government until their demands are satisfied. Such action, looking toward the paralysis of Government by those who have sworn to support it, is unthinkable and intolerable. It is, therefore, with a feeling of gratification that I have noted in the constitution of the National Federation of Federal Employees the provision that "under no circumstances shall this Federation engage in or support strikes against the United States Government."

I congratulate the National Federation of Federal Employees the twentieth anniversary of its founding and trust that the convention will, in every way, be successful.

Franklin D. Roosevelt: Letter on the Resolution of Federation of Federal Employees Against Strikes in Federal Service

 

[martybegan]

The teachers are protesting something dear to their hearts...the right to be heard by their employers.

If they accept the consequences that they can be fired for calling in sick then that is their choice to make.

A little civil disobedience is often a good thing...unless you're a rightwingloon, of course.

by trying the whole sick note thing, they are not accepting the consequences of thier civil disobedience, they are attempting to get around it.

Accepting would be showing up to work the next week, and when asked where they were, telling the truth. "I was at the protest, what are you going to do about it" By presenting false doctors notes they are committing fraud, as are the doctors.

I dont remember MLK getting doctors notes to get him out of Birmingham Jail.

 

[Ravi]

FDR wasn't always correct.

 

[boedicca]

Indeed. There is something quite contradictory of wishing to engage in Civil Disobedience while be insured against All Of The Consequences.

Oh The Courage!

 

[boedicca]

FDR wasn't always correct.

In the 1937 letter, he most certainly was.

Public Employee Unions are one of the major causes of our fiscal shambles and dysfunctional government.

 

[HUGGY]

Phoney Sick Notes From WI MDs

I see a financial opportunity for Xotoxi! Internet sick notes!!!!!

 

[martybegan]

The University of Wisconsin medical school says it's investigating reports that doctors from the school handed out medical excuse notes to protesters at the state Capitol this weekend.

Doctors from numerous hospitals set up a station near the Capitol on Saturday to provide notes to explain public employees' absences from work. One of those doctors was Lou Sanner, who practices family medicine at the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health. Sanner said he had given out hundreds of notes to protesters and many he spoke with seemed to be suffering from stress.

UW Health said Sunday that any doctors who distributed notes did so on their own behalf. The school didn't specifically mention Sanner but said it was looking into cases involving any of the school's doctors.

Excuse notes from docs at protests draw scrutiny

So, lemme get this straight. Protesters want to be paid for their days away from work, so they call in sick. To get those days paid, they need a doctor's note. To show solidarity with the protesters, some doctors are issuing these notes at the site of the protest by the thousands.

Anyone besides me see a possible ethical issue or two here?

Only in America are people so fat and lazy, they want to be paid to protest. What a clusterfuck this is becoming.

Patients present (express) the right symptoms, doctors write the note.
They aren't comp docs, they are gen practitioners...and members of their community...
if the system is trying to fuck the teachers, is it really SO wrong for the teachers to try to fuck the system?

The collective bargaining rights the state workers have are by state law, not state consitution. Therefore those rights can be revoked by changing the state law creating them. The Governor is using the system as intended.

The Teachers on the other hand, are mis-using a part of thier contract with the state to avoid repercussions of thier not reporting to thier job. They and their doctors are also commiting fraud against the state.

Trying to make excuses for this only makes it seem even more wrong.