PTSD: Is it Real?

Jim Fausone
Veterans Disability Lawyer

It would be easy to get made about this. But many people feel free to comment that PTSD is not a real condition.  I suspect they mean it’s not an "injury" that you can attribute to a single act or event. It is not a sprained knee or back.  You have to remember that some people believe the following (1) man has never walked on the moon; (2) the earth is flat ; (3)  one's race impacts one's intelligence; (4) global warming does not exist; (5) there is no god  and a variety of other commonly held believes are not true just because. 

So when I hear about the veteran and PTSD haters talk about PTSD, I just lump them in the "it takes all kinds" category.   In 2011, the VA listed the three most common service-connected disabilities among veterans receiving federal compensation that year: tinnitus (ringing in the ears) at 10.9 percent, hearing loss at 7.5 percent, and PTSD at 5.3 percent.   According to the VA the percentage of veterans of World War II and Vietnam who obtained disability compensation is 11 percent and 16 percent, respectively.  

So does that mean PTSD has been faked for the last 70 years?  I don’t think so.  Despite exhaustive scientific studies that have explored the symptoms, causes, diagnoses, and prevalence of post-traumatic stress disorder, hardcore skeptics remain.  If you want to read about the skeptics see the following blog:

http://usnews.nbcnews.com/_news/2012/11/26/15395330-ptsd-may-be-overdiagnosed-but-ptsd-deniers-are-wrong-psychologists-say?lite

Georgia Woman Faces 20 Years for "Robo-Signing" Scheme

The name “Linda Green” sounds ordinary enough to fly under the radar, and that’s just what it did as it appeared on thousands of mortgage-related documents across the United States. The only notable distinction on the documents was a variation in the handwriting.

State Attorney General Bill Schuette has charged Lorraine O’Reilly Brown, the former president of DocX and the woman behind the mortgage document “robo-signing” scheme with racketeering – a felony charge with the potential to bring Brown a 20-year sentence.

From 2006 to 2009, Brown instructed her employees to fraudulently sign various bank officials’ names (e.g. Linda Green) on mortgage documents, which resulted in quicker document processing and more money for Brown and her company. Workers at DocX allegedly forged close to a million signatures on home mortgage documents, and while the scheme may have begun in Georgia, Michigan officials discovered over 1,000 fraudulent signatures on mortgages in their own state. As Brown and DocX workers produced these fraudulent signatures, banks have used such “robo-signed” documents in order to initiate improper foreclosures.

Attorney General Schuette was one of 49 state attorneys who entered into a $25 billion settlement with five of the largest U.S. banks over improper foreclosure processes and mortgage services. As a result of the settlement, Michigan will receive over $760 million, $97 million of which will go towards Michigan’s new Homeowner Protection Fund – signed recently into law in order to help homeowners avoid foreclosure and assist law enforcement in putting an end to deceptive practices.

If you have questions about fraudulent conduct, contact Fausone Bohn, LLP at (248) 380-0000.

To learn more and see the original article, please visit: http://www.freep.com/article/20121126/BUSINESS/121126038/Michigan-AG-announces-racketeering-charged-forged-signature-case

Michigan Supreme Court Justice Charged with Real Estate Fraud

Diane Hathaway, Michigan Supreme Court Justice, may be facing political pressure to resign, but it seems she will not go down without a fight. Accused of real estate fraud, Hathaway may face criminal charges.

In 2010, Hathaway and her husband, attorney Michael Kingsley, contacted ING Bank in pursuit of a short sale on their Grosse Point Park home, a transaction in which a bank and borrower agree to sell a property for less than what is owed on the mortgage.

The hardship letter sent to ING Bank, however, failed to disclose the recent transfer of their Florida home to Kingsley’s daughter. As Hathaway claimed she did not possess the financial resources necessary to pay the mortgage on her Michigan property, her Florida residence seemed to have been hidden away. After the short sale of the Gross Pointe home, resulting in the erasure of over $600,000 in mortgage debt, the Florida home was quietly transferred back into Hathaway’s name.

Federal authorities filed a lawsuit to seize Hathaway’s Florida residence, accusing her of hiding real estate while persuading a bank to allow the short sale of her Gross Point residence. Hathaway and Kingsley, however, will have the chance to challenge the government in this forfeiture action.

While Michigan Chief Justice Robert Young Jr. urged Hathaway to make a statement, clearing the air and explaining the transactions, Hathaway declined to speak publicly. Matt Frendewey, spokesman for the Michigan Republican Party, pushed for Hathaway’s resignation: “Her actions are offensive to the many Michigan families who have faced difficult times during Michigan’s economic downturn.”

If you have real estate or fraud issues, contact Fausone Bohn, LLP at (248) 380-0000.

To learn more and see the original article, please visit: http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/feds-accuse-michigan-judge-real-estate-fraud-17773202#.ULTCpeRlGqg and http://www.freep.com/article/20121122/NEWS06/311220087/State-Supreme-Court-Justice-Diane-Hathaway-fights-keep-home-amid-scandal-denies-rumors-resigning

Judge to Hear Motion to Dismiss for McCotter Staffer

Paul Seewald, former staffer for U.S. Representative Thaddeus McCotter, was charged with nine misdemeanor counts for falsely signing election nominating petitions as a circulator and one felony conspiracy charge. 

On Tuesday, Mr. Seewald pleaded guilty to the nine misdemeanor counts in Wayne County Circuit Court.  However, Judge Margie Braxton will hear an argument from Mr. Seewald’s attorney, Mark Mandell, to have the remaining felony conspiracy charge dismissed.

The judge is expected to hear Mr. Seewald’s motion to dismiss on January 9th.

Mark Mandell, a partner at the law firm of Fausone Bohn, LLP in Northville, is defending Mr. Seewald against these charges.

If you have questions regarding fraud or other legal issues, contact Mark Mandell at 248.380.0000 or www.MichiganFraudLawyer.com.

To read the Detroit News article about the hearing, please visit:

http://www.detroitnews.com/article/20121127/METRO01/211270373/1361/McCotter-staffers-enter-pleas-in-petition-fraud-case

 

Female Vets and PTSD

Jim Fausone
Veterans Disability Lawyer

An underreported problem with female veterans may be PTSD.  We see women vets complaining about PTSD when military sexual trauma is involved.  However, we do not yet see the expected complaints of PTSD that these wars in general cause.  Women vets are leading and driving convoys in the war with no front.  They are exposed to IEDs and random attacks.  Researches in California claim that women may be more susceptible to PTSD.  Women may be at greater risk of developing post-traumatic stress disorder than men because of what researchers call their “heightened fear response.”  Time Magazine recently posted on this research which includes an interesting video clip.  This University of California San Francisco work is done in conjunction with the VA Medical Center in San Francisco.

http://nation.time.com/2012/11/21/are-female-troops-more-likely-to-get-ptsd/#ixzz2D9arTHMg

http://www.ucsf.edu/news/2012/11/13155/gender-differences-ptsd-risk-may-be-due-heightened-fear-conditioning-women

 

Medicare Fraud Not Limited to Home Health Agencies

Tariq Hafeez, Esq

 

Home healthcare companies aren’t the only ones overbilling Medicare – nursing homes are at it as well.  According to a report by the staff of the Inspector General of the Department of Health and Human Services, a review of nursing home Medicare bills found that about one-fourth of them were incorrect. 

This adds around $1.5 billion in annual costs to the Medicare program, according to the report.

 

Much of the incorrect billing involves upcoding, a common scheme where the facility submits bills to Medicare for more intensive services than actually performed to receive a higher reimbursement.  Additionally, some facilities provide treatments to patients that are inappropriate or unnecessary.

“What makes this report stand out is the sheer amount of dollars inappropriately spent,” said Jodi Nudelman, New York Inspector General who oversaw the study.  These companies are “billing for therapy that they don’t provide or which the patient doesn’t need.”

Medicare accounted for 13.5% of Federal spending last year – and that percentage is expected to grow.  With estimates labeling 30% of U.S. medical spending as “unnecessary,” cutting fraud, waste, and abuse is a key part of reducing Medicare spending - $3.7 billion has been recovered in the past 3 years. 

The OIG has said that Medicare has made several significant changes but that more needs to be done to reduce inappropriate payments.  This systematic overbilling at the expense of taxpayers is unacceptable.

If you have questions or have witnessed a nursing home or other provider committing Medicare fraud, contact the experienced fraud team at Fausone Bohn, LLP.  Call Tariq Hafeez or Breeda O’Leary at (248) 380-0000 or visit our website at www.MichiganFraudLawyer.com.

To read the original article, please visit: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424127887324073504578115390581083074.html

Veteran Jobs in Energy Sector

Jim Fausone
Veteran Advocate

New program for veterans…Alpena Community College, Schoolcraft Community College have partnered with DTE Energy, Local 223 of the Utility Workers Union of America, Consumers Energy, the Center  for Energy Workforce Development and the Michigan Workforce Intelligence Network to help veterans retrain in a new Natural Gas Boot Camp, a seven-week pilot program that’s preparing Michigan veterans for jobs as maintenance fitter apprentices. For an article on this program, please go to http://www.sacbee.com/2012/11/12/4979288/dte-energy-helps-create-natural.html