CHARLOTTE, N.C. — This is one of the most unusual fraud cases police have ever looked at — two people who got plastic surgery by pretending to be someone else.
Unless it’s for an accident, plastic surgery is seldom paid for by insurance. That’s the reason most surgeons are careful to collect in advance.
Dr Robert Seligson, CEO of the North Carolina Medical Society, says this case has caught the interest of doctors.
“It is unusual, it’s rare, it’s something that doesn’t happen to often,†Seligson said.
A Charlotte-Mecklenburg police report shows a plastic surgeon was hoodwinked by two patients who pretended to be someone else. The report claims the doctor was ripped off to the tune of $10,000 worth of surgery.
“I think things like this when they present themselves in a doctor’s office makes them a little more sensitive about what’s going on in the real world,†Seligson said.
The incident occurred in January, and was just reported on Thursday. The surgeon is Dr Peter Tucker, whose office is located on Billingsly Road. By the way, Tucker is the former employer of Sally Hill, a nurse anesthetist who is charged with murdering a high school classmate following a surgical procedure.
Since cases like this are so rare, it’s expected to generate a buzz among doctors.
“I think it will cause us as a state medical society to look into ways that we can help educate our doctors more to avoid these types of things happening to them,†Seligson said.
We tried to contact the surgeon, but he was not available for comment. Doctors say they are vulnerable because when they first meet patients, they work on the doctor-patient relationship, not grilling them to guard against identity theft.
Police have not yet made any arrests in the case.
[via WCNC]
1 COMMENTS
Leave A Commentwhy on earth didn’t they I.D. the girls and what the rigemorole of paperwork???
We always ID at our office.. For reasons like this.
Aren’t they supposed to have all the insurance information copied??
I mean how, just how on something as serious as surgery, could you pretend to be someone else.?!
Sounds fishy to me.