You have been in a serious car accident.  You are in pain.  You don’t know what to do.  You don’t know how your medical bills will be paid.  You don’t know how your car is going to be fixed.  Should you call an attorney?  Or maybe you should call an injury help line.  Consider this when you make your decision.

I read an interesting article in the Bloomberg News about 1-800-ASK-GARY, a “referral network” that advertises heavily in Louisville, Kentucky for car accident cases.

The article talks about three individuals who were injured in car accidents that called 1-800-ASK-GARY, which is a medical referral service they saw advertised on television.  All were referred to a clinic owned by Gary Kompothecras, Physicians Group.  Two of his three were referred to a law firm that was part of the group, Winters & Yonker.

The highlights of the stories of Jennifer Malina, Kathleen Weston and Sharon Langford include:

• Medical bills that were reduced to about half.
• Treatment for areas where there was no pain complaints.
• Confidential complaints to the Florida Bar Association.
• Non-use of available health insurance.
• A flight from Kentucky to Florida for surgery.

Investigation

There are 50 Physician’s Group clinics specializing in treatment in car-crash medicine. The ASK-GARY services is one of Florida’s 72 registered referral networks with hotlines such as 1-800-411-PAIN, 1-800-NeedHelp and 1-305-NO-FAULT. These networks also operate in other states such as Georgia, Kentucky, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Tennessee and Texas.

According to Captain Steven Smith, Florida’s Insurance Fraud Unit is conducting a criminal probe of accident-referral services. Smith told the Florida Bar Association that the State investigators are trying to determine whether clinics or lawyers make unlawful payments for referrals and whether patients are being treated for non-existing injuries. The FBI wants to find out if lawyers are directing treatment based on how much insurance coverage patients have.

According to Steven Butron, attorney for the clinics, Physician’s Group complies with all “laws, regulations and rules of ethics”. Kompothecras said in a statement, “We have always held strict adherence to the highest quality of care. We have served thousands of patients with no malpractice claims to date”.

Existing Views

Every accident victim has the ability to seek the lawyers and medical care of their choice. It will be interesting to see the results of the investigation by the Florida Bar of these referral hotlines.  It is important to choose the doctor and lawyer that are best for YOU if you are the victim of a car accident.

There has been a crack down on runners for attorneys in Kentucky.  The runners law prohibits the direct solicitation of car accident victims by attorneys for 30 days following the car accident.  Most injured car crash victims are looking for someone to trust by calling a referral line.  They make a phone call to be referred to a medical facility and a car accident lawyer that is best for their situation and circumstances.  What they don’t know is that there may only be one medical facility on the referral list.  They are being sent there no matter what their injury is.  A broken arm, whiplash or a head injury may all be referred to the same place.  The advertisement should tell the public this!  I would like to know what you think. Should this be information that is easily available to a caller of an injury help line?

The Florida Bar committee and the Florida Legislature are considering cracking down on hotlines, such as 1-800-ASK-GARY which advertise that they provide free and immediate assistance any time of the day, 7 days a week. The lawyer and doctor referral provides services for Florida, Minnesota, Kentucky and Delaware accidents.

The Florida bar committee requires that hotlines refer injured auto victims to at least four medical clinics for treatment. It is known that the clinic chain Physicians Group, which is affiliated with 1-800-ASK-GARY is the only facility the hotline refers patients to, in other words their own health care facilities. These clinics are currently in Florida, Minnesota and Kentucky.

An all-day discussion was held by Florida Bar committee last Thursday about the growth of such referral hotlines.  There are is now 70 in Florida. The 1-800-ASK-GARY and 411 Pain are the two biggest medical and legal hotline based in South Florida.

A Jacksonville lawyer, Grier Wells, said that the Bar committee is investigating the advertising of the referral service, which doesn’t reveal that medical clinics are behind the ads. The Bar Committee is also exploring the financial relationships between the clinics and accident attorneys involved in the hotlines.

Legislators are likely to press for changes in the personal injury protection, or no-fault, insurance system in Florida, St. Petersburg lawyer, Rick Kriseman, is preparing a new bill that would require disclosure showing the financial stake that medical and attorneys have in referral hotlines.

Should Kentucky do the same?  I think they should.  There has been a crack down on runners for attorneys with the runners law prohibiting direct solicitation of car accident victims by attorneys for 30 days following the car accident.  Most injured car crash victims are looking for someone to trust by calling a referral line.  The thought is that they will be referred to a medical facility that will best help them.  What they don’t know is this is an advertisement for one and only one medical facility.  They are being sent there no matter what their injury is, a broken arm, whiplash or a head injury all to the same place.  The advertisement should tell the public this!  I would like to know what you think ?

Anthony Gadlage, a 28-year-old Kentucky attorney, filed a lawsuit against Winters & Yonker law firm for firing him. Gadlage states that he refused to engage in the “quid pro referral arrangement mandated” by the law firm “out of concern for the wellbeing of clients.”  He had worked in the law firm for about nine months.  He ignored demands to send clients to Kentucky Spine & Rehab, owned by Dr. Gary Kompothecras, the Florida chiropractor behind the toll-free line”1-800-ASK GARY”. Gadlage stated that the clinic charged higher bills and insurance companies didn’t want to pay. He believed this could make it harder for the case to be settled.

Winters & Yonker denied that it trades clients with Kampothecras according to its outside counsel, Ron Green.  Green added that the firm provides clients with a “menu of medical providers that the firm thinks well of” and every client has a signed document to confirm that they have received a physician of their own choice. 

Kentucky Lawyer ethics experts state that it’s a responsibility of a lawyer to direct clients to the best medical provider, not one from which they are trading business.  It is in the Kentucky ethics rule that nothing of value may be exchanged for referral.

There are already pending lawsuits against Winters & Yonker from last year. In one of these lawsuits, which was filed by Louisville attorney Sam Carl, Sharon Lanngford was flown to Florida to be seen by a clinic owned by Kampothecras. The firm denied wrongdoing on these cases.

In the suit filed by Gadlage, he stated that Kompothecras and 1-800-ASK GARY refer “hundreds of Kentucky injury patients” to Winters & Yonker and countered it with hundreds of referrals from the law firm.  As of April, there was found to be a decrease in referrals to Kompothecras. This decrease was allegedly traced to clients of Gadlage.  It has been alleged that he was fired for this reason.

According to Gadlage’s lawyer, Garry Adams, the law firm claimed that Gadlage was terminated for neglecting an appointment with a client. Adams actually states that Gadlage had just postponed the appointment for an important matter.   Since, he’s still looking for a job; his suit seeks compensatory damages for wrongful termination and or damage to his reputation.

It will be interesting to see how this strange case unfolds. As a Kentucky personal injury attorney, I applaud Gadlage for sticking up for his clients. Referral arrangements can be illegal. No clients injured in an auto accident should ever be mandated to go to a particular doctor.  Each case is unique and each injury is unique.  An injured accident victim should feel free to go the doctor of their choosing.

There is nothing worse then being injured in a Kentucky car accident. You are in pain. You look for a lawyer to guide you and help you deal with the insurance company. You want to get a fair settlement and the best legal advice. Your lawyer sends you to a doctor for treatment. They even arrange for you to fly to another state for surgery. You settle your case and get your settlement money, after your attorney and doctors are paid. This is the way it suppose to go, isn’t it? I would say yes unless you are Sharon Langford.         

We have all seen the billboards and the television commercials about the “aggressive attorneys” formally “Winters, Yonkers and Rousselle” now “Winters and Yonkers”.  Whether you are a fan of this type of legal advertising or not, you have to admit that it works because everyone in Louisville, Kentucky knows the name of this Florida based law firm.  The firm has recently been sued in Jefferson Circuit Court by a former client, Sharon Langford.

            Ms. Langford was injured in a car accident in June of 2008.  She alleges that she was not told that her personal health insurance would potentially pay for her medical bills after her PIP benefits were exhausted. PIP benefits are also known as No-Fault Benefits or Personal Injury Protection. She was referred to a medical care clinic called First Physicians Rehabilitation Inc. by the law firm according to the lawsuit. She was told they would take care of injuries suffered in a car accident.  It is reported that the medical facility did not accept health insurance only PIP car insurance. 

Later when Langford needed surgery the firm flew her to another clinic in Florida.  In the lawsuit Langford states that she discovered later that both clinics were owned by Gary Kompothecras, a chiropractor, who also owns the Hepley advertisement referral service 1?800?ASK?GARY.  Langford also alleges in her lawsuit that the relationship between the law firm and the clinic cost her money.  Her attorney, Sam Carl, states that medical bills paid after PIP totaled over $64,000.00.  Health insurance would have paid a portion of this leaving additional money to Langford after settlement of the lawsuit. You can read the courier journal article that I linked above with further details. 

The question that comes to mind is whether or not the referrals to and between the medical clinic and the law office should be disclosed to clients.  It is alleged that this is a requirement.  I would argue that a client should be referred to the best doctor available and not a doctor that is only referring business to the law firm.  I often refer clients to doctors. Those clients would otherwise have no idea where to go.  I give them the name of several doctors based on their needs.  Many family doctors do not want to handle lawsuits or auto accident suits nor do they understand how to bill car insurance for payment for their medical services. 

The question always comes down to what is best for the client.  Any relationship between a doctor and a lawyer should be disclosed to the client. I will watch with interest Sam Carl’s case to see what direction it does go.  It’s safe to say it should be educational for Kentucky auto accident victims and give them the knowledge they need to ask questions of their attorneys as to the relationship between the attorney and the doctor.