Published 2013.10.31 CommPRO.biz

Do No Harm

The Hippocratic Oath is a widely edited set of guidelines credited to a long-ago Greek medical practitioner. It is estimated that 98% of medical students swear some form of oath, as do a large percentage of dental graduates. These oaths are focused on ethics and are often condensed into, “Do no harm.” Recent reports of predatory lending practices by doctors and dentists give us a picture of the other two percent.

Patients who lack insurance and those who need or want procedures not covered by their insurer, are being herded into various medical credit cards that are little more than tools created to ripoff the unwary by the monster banks and their lackeys. Wells Fargo and Citibank seem directly involved while others hide in the shadows providing the funds for the smaller credit card issuers. It’s the same set of scams and scammers that created the sub-prime mortgage disaster and more recently the on-going payday loan racket. They seem to be betting on the Justice Department giving them another get-out-of-jail-free card no matter how or who they ripoff.

The unwary –Who doesn’t trust their doctor or dentist?– sign up for these cards right in the doctor’s or dentist’s office. They are told that they will pay no interest if the card is paid off in three or four easy payments. What the docs don’t say is that you will be slapped with interest charges –close to 30% in some cases– if you don’t pay up before the end of the interest free period.

Let’s say you owe $1,000, about average for extensive dental work or plastic surgery. And let’s say you haven’t been able to make any payments over the four month interest free period. In most cases you’ll owe interest from the first month on the entire $1,000, plus the compound interest for the additional three months. You’ll be in hock for a lot more when the fourth month comes around. You can see that this is not going to end well when you start adding on late payments etc.

One of the independent card companies specializing in healthcare credit cards is said to have between five and ten million card holders. In addition to the medical practitioners who swear to do no harm, there are medical device hustlers, selling everything from power scooters and chairs, to hearing aides. These people aren’t even restrained by a “Do no harm” oath. Although, when bucks are at stake some doctors and dentists don’t seem able to recall that phrase.

These practices are beyond unethical, beyond immoral. Doctors and dentists who lead people into these scams may not be breaking any laws, but they are certainly –or should be– on shaky ground with state licensing agencies. A few suspensions would slow down this racket A couple revocations for the worst cases might stop it dead in its tracks. It’s a shame when a few scammers can cast a shadow over a largely principled group of professionals pledged to do no harm.