A physician’s allegations that an insurer pressured her to change medical opinions in order to reduce costs plays into advisors fears about disability claims
By Jill Gregorie
A Hamilton-based physician has filed a $3.2 million lawsuit against the Workplace Safety and Insurance Board (WSIB) and her previous employer, Workplace Health & Cost Solutions (WHCS), alleging that the two groups encouraged her to partake in fraud, according to CBC News.
In her statement of claim, Brenda Steinnagel reports that WSIB and WHCS “repeatedly” compelled her to change her medical opinion on a hospital security guard who sustained head injuries while attempting to subdue a patient.
“The defendants WSIB and WHCS tried to force Dr. Steinnagel to participate in a fraud upon the public,” the statement reads.
Dr. Steinnagel contends that although she believed that the hospital employee’s head injuries contributed to emotional issues that manifested over time, the organizations hoped she would report otherwise to ease their obligations in providing him with workplace injury benefits.
“In a desperate effort to reduce claims paid out, WSIB and WHCS have been conspiring to deny legitimate claims in a shocking display of arrogance and corruption,” the statement continues. “They pressured Dr. Steinnagel over a period of months to reverse her medical opinion on a high-cost case. When she refused, she was fired.”
Steinnagel, who had previously worked for the WSIB and was praised for her “excellent work” there, contends that her work environment became “tense” after she initially refused to alter her opinion on the guard. She also alleges that WHCS’s medical director “coerced” her into signing a fabricated report with her name on it, but she resisted.
The organization later asked if she “valued the WSIB contract” and tried to subvert her by casting doubts on her competence, according to her statement. The opinion was eventually submitted to the WSIB with a different conclusion, written by another doctor.
Although WSIB and WHCS have yet to file their own statements in court, both maintain their innocence in the matter.
“The claims she has made about improper conduct are without merit,” WHCS lawyer Greg McGinnis told the Toronto Star, adding that Steinnagel appeared to be “an apparently disgruntled former employee.”
A spokesperson for the WSIB also relayed that the insurer did not act improperly, and planned to “vigorously defend the lawsuit.”
Files by Will Ashworth
A Hamilton-based physician has filed a $3.2 million lawsuit against the Workplace Safety and Insurance Board (WSIB) and her previous employer, Workplace Health & Cost Solutions (WHCS), alleging that the two groups encouraged her to partake in fraud, according to CBC News.
In her statement of claim, Brenda Steinnagel reports that WSIB and WHCS “repeatedly” compelled her to change her medical opinion on a hospital security guard who sustained head injuries while attempting to subdue a patient.
“The defendants WSIB and WHCS tried to force Dr. Steinnagel to participate in a fraud upon the public,” the statement reads.
Dr. Steinnagel contends that although she believed that the hospital employee’s head injuries contributed to emotional issues that manifested over time, the organizations hoped she would report otherwise to ease their obligations in providing him with workplace injury benefits.
“In a desperate effort to reduce claims paid out, WSIB and WHCS have been conspiring to deny legitimate claims in a shocking display of arrogance and corruption,” the statement continues. “They pressured Dr. Steinnagel over a period of months to reverse her medical opinion on a high-cost case. When she refused, she was fired.”
Steinnagel, who had previously worked for the WSIB and was praised for her “excellent work” there, contends that her work environment became “tense” after she initially refused to alter her opinion on the guard. She also alleges that WHCS’s medical director “coerced” her into signing a fabricated report with her name on it, but she resisted.
The organization later asked if she “valued the WSIB contract” and tried to subvert her by casting doubts on her competence, according to her statement. The opinion was eventually submitted to the WSIB with a different conclusion, written by another doctor.
Although WSIB and WHCS have yet to file their own statements in court, both maintain their innocence in the matter.
“The claims she has made about improper conduct are without merit,” WHCS lawyer Greg McGinnis told the Toronto Star, adding that Steinnagel appeared to be “an apparently disgruntled former employee.”
A spokesperson for the WSIB also relayed that the insurer did not act improperly, and planned to “vigorously defend the lawsuit.”
Files by Will Ashworth
