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Injured Alaska Worker's Unanswered Letter To AFL-CIO
Source Terri Lindhag
Date 09/01/08/22:08

Injured Alaska Unanswered Letter To AFL-CIO Secretary Treasurer Richard Trumka-NBC Dateline Involved In Cover-up As Well

Injured Alaska worker Terri Lindhag sought to get support from AFL-CIO Secretary Treasurer Richard Trumka but he has yet to answer her call for solidarity. The corruption of the company doctors, lawyers and judges is a major systemic problem in the workers compensation system for hundreds of thousands of seriously injured workers. Apparently Trumka does not have time to answer a letter from an injured worker crying out for help. NBC's Dateline has also been involved in a cover-up on this story after spending tens of thousands of dollars investigating this story and then refusing to run it and firing the reporter who sought to get the story out. So much for a democratic press

7 July 2007

Terri Lindhag
P.O. Box 56795
North Pole, Alaska 99705
tlindhag@gci.net

Mr. Richard Trumka
President AFL-CIO
815 16th St., NW
Washington, DC 20006

Dear Mr. Trumka,

Mr. Ralph Nader referred me to you via a mutual friend who is a physician, and also aware of the situation involved.

I have experienced and documented, multiple cases of fraud and denial of benefits by the State of Alaska Worker’s Compensation System in coordination with the insurance industry and the office of the Attorney General.

I request your assistance, not just for my own situation, but to expose the corruption within the system that is harming so many other workers as well.

The enclosed documents show the types of physicians that provide services to the insurance industry. I have placed Tabs on each document section for your use.

Tab A, my letter of January 15, 2007, to Governor Palin, was sent when the State directed me to allow Dr. Ajit Arora to re-evaluate me after previously denying any connection of my illness and injury to my workplace. The governor never responded to this letter. A second letter dated 20 March 2007, was sent to all Alaskan legislators, our three Federal delegates and other agencies in the state, and the media. Fewer than ten, combined state, federal and public agencies responded. One legislator contacted the state Ombudsman’s office requesting investigation. That investigator recently informed me that she would have to close the case due to limited reserves and minimal staffing.

The State of Alaska then wanted me to see Dr. Allene Scott, another physician, who had also previously evaluated me and withheld benefits. She is extremely well versed in the insurance jargon necessary to obtain claim denials.

Tabs B and E, have information on Dr. Arora. I believe you will see that he is not only unqualified but a part of massive insurance fraud. He claims expertise in a wide range of specialties. The documented information I have on this man goes beyond his work in the compensation arena. It is shocking and deplorable.

Tab C, contains information on Dr. Scott, as well as pages from the manuals provided by the groups she credits learning her IME skills from. I believe you will find them for what they are. This IME groups is operating in several states in addition to Alaska.

The State of Alaska’s Worker’s Compensation Division is trying to force me to another of their hired-guns. This would put me in a precarious situation by forcing me to travel against medical advise for the goal of again taking away my benefits, not to mention put me at the mercy of another hired-gun, who no doubt will be made aware of my refusal to give up fighting for what is right.

I am literally fighting for my life. I need powerful assistance from outside the state of Alaska to expose the fraud and blatant abuse of power resulting in claims denial and to retain my medical benefits and financial assistance. The corruption here goes through our Attorney General’s office. The State of Alaska hires the adjusters who hire the doctors. The states’ Attorney General’s office represents the doctors. The Attorney General’s office heads up the appeals board and, the Attorney General’s office is the only office to contact regarding medical and insurance fraud. The Division of Insurance will not investigate complaints against adjusters or doctors used by the state since the state is self-insured. The state medical board confers with the Attorney General’s office in determining whether complaints are legitimate and if those complaints are against an insurance doctor, the answer is obvious. Our newly appointed Attorney General, Talis Colberg, is a former insurance attorney who represented the insurance industry and employers. There is no avenue of recourse here in Alaska.

Tab G, contains Decision and Order pages that show the Attorney General, as an insurance attorney, switched back and forth between employee and employer for several years and has worked in concert with and opposite Assistant Attorney Generals in the past. For him to say the system is corrupt would be to accuse himself of participating in fraud.

I was interviewed by Dateline in 2002, and waited quietly as asked, until they could get all the interviewing completed and finalize their investigation. Releases for Dateline to speak with Ajit Arora were agreed upon and the plans for the program were in motion. Then for reasons unknown, NBC declined to air the program, the producer lost her position with them and the whole topic hidden away.

These doctors, with the help of state government, have tremendous power. There is a great deal to cover up. The pages from the manuals speak for themselves. This is what they are using against unsuspecting people who initially believe they are going to be treated fairly and by the law.

I have amassed a wealth of information over the course of the last ten years as I have encountered the powers that control the Workers’ Compensation system.

There is no doubt in anyone’s mind that insurance fraud is taking place and I have evidence that covers other states in addition to Alaska. The information and documentation I have will cause a domino effect nationwide once this information is made public. Uncovering this fraud against the workers of this country will make Mr. Moore’s film, Sicko, look tame.

I would greatly appreciate it if you and your staff will help me and other workers in this state. Please let me know if you need additional information or more documentation. Thank you.

Sincerely,
Terri Lindhag

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