Disability Industrial Complex
Claiming the right to other people's money to survive is a complicated problem that requires professionals lawyers and doctors to determine who really deserves it. When those professionals figure out how to make a system from this process we have the Disability Industrial Complex.
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The man who’s wife called him a robot
Elly watched Brad head for his upstairs office for the second time one Saturday. First after breakfast, now after lunch. “You’re a robot,” she called out, as she cleared the dishes from their lovely lunch of whole-grain pasta stewed with fresh-cut vegetables and a side of steamed brown rice. She worked hard to keep him healthy, and she deserved a little attention. Not today. Butt back in his chair, he refreshed the computer screen and continued entering data for the third medical report of the day. Pushing sixty, preparing for retirement, he thought of Mo dying alone in his beat-up trailer, or Natalie waiting for the next government so she…
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The Disability Industrial Complex
Finally, it was time for attorney Roman to do his cross-examination. “Your honor, I move that the witness Dr. Rosedale be excused from this hearing, and that he be barred from ever doing expert witness work again in the great state of California.” The judge could not hide his surprise. He lifted his elbows off the table and sat all the way back in his chair. “Really? On what basis do you make this motion, Mr. Roman?” Defense attorney Lamb rolled his eyes and focused on an empty corner in the room. His assistant Brandy dropped her pen and bent to retrieve it. Ronald Roman narrowed his eyes at the…
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The Disability Industrial Complex – Roman meets Brad
The date of the hearing came, and Dr. Rosedale arrived at the conference room early, so he could set up a knee arthritis model, a chart showing injury trajectories, and colorful posters of knee anatomy. Dennis came, and they shared some strategies. The judge arrived, helped himself to the coffee urn, and stayed out of the way by engaging in small talk with a receptionist. Brandy arrived, serving as a witness for the county, and sat herself in a corner with her notes. The only other was a court reporter who set up her equipment across from where the judge would sit. The clock struck 1 PM and everyone was…
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The Disability Industrial Complex – a case of bad knees
Dr. Brad Rosedale quickly scanned the chart of a 48-year-old social worker who was claiming disability for an injury to her knees while on a work assignment. “Ms. Skruge come on in please,” he announced to the waiting room. A woman in a purple coat grasped two ski poles from against the wall, planted them in front of her, and hoisted herself out of the chair with a moan. Hyperventilating, she shuffled stiffly toward the man in the white coat, and they filed into an exam room. “Please have a seat,” he said, and positioned them in chairs on opposite sides of a small desk. It was a busy day,…
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The burden of the path to abundance
Brad thought he finally had everything just right. Nothing was missing; all the deep spiritual work was over, and now it was paying off. He had a happy marriage to the pretty and devoted Elly, who was a final answer to his old problem of finding a soulmate. They enjoyed a view across the Bay where they could see Oakland and the San Mateo bridge from the balcony of their penthouse condo on the peninsula. The clinic patients were under control, and he had started doing Independent Medical Examinations for industrial injury insurance companies. A typical work week was 60-65 hours, some of it at home where he could write…
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Getting disability by threatening a bullet in the head
“Tell Dr. Rosedale next time I see him walkin’ cross the parkin’ lot, he’s gonna get a bullet in his damn head,” said a voice on the phone at the medical clinic in Oakland, California. The medical assistant taking the call panicked. ”Who is this? What are you saying?” she said. She spun around in her chair to look for a supervisor or anyone who could take over. “Never mind who it is! Shit, just tell ‘him he done somebody wrong.” The voiced hung up. His search for Enlightenment over, Brad believed his spiritual awakening made his life’s mission secure. All he had to do was go to work and…