Tip of the Fraud Iceberg
Times Staff Writer Lori Grange’s June 1, 1990, article--”Pair Ordered to Repay RTD $228,000 for Injury Scam”--while well-written and documented, is really not all that newsworthy or sensational.
Why? This particular kind of scam does not even touch the tip of the iceberg of insurance fraud that is breaking the back of insurers and affecting the pocketbook of insurance consumers.
Look at the practices of California’s personal-injury plaintiffs’ attorneys and their relationship with medical clinics and chiropractors. During the more than half-century that I have been toiling in the vineyards of insurance, I have been sickened by the advertising practices of those who profess to practice respect for law, but instead through all forms of the media--be it television, radio or newspaper--have reversed what formerly was a “profession” and turned it into a financially rewarding “business.”
To tell the public, “even if you think you are injured” and even if you are at fault, that you are entitled to recover your money and we the attorneys will get it for you--this is not law, this is extortion. The insurance files of this firm are filled with documented evidence of vehicle damages of less than $100 which through legal corruption are settled out of court some 12 months later for $20,000 or $30,000.
The RTD expose is minuscule compared to what is happening daily through personal-injury plaintiffs corruption.
HOWARD A. BAKER
Eagle Rock
Sign up for Essential California
The most important California stories and recommendations in your inbox every morning.
You may occasionally receive promotional content from the Los Angeles Times.
