I don't know about any of you but a while back I watched a show called America's Got Talent and was moved by the story of Timothy Poe and how he had been injured while in the army and now had TBI (Traumatic Brain Injury)..
I later found out that he made the entire story up. He was never injured. Heck, he wasn't even in the Army as long as he said he was.
Here's his story.
I was shocked to see this guy on an episode of Dr. Phil and how Dr. Phil called him out on every single one of his lies and even got military records showing the guy was a liar. I mean, who does this? Who makes up a traumatic brain injury and why? For sympathy? For more benefits?
So I went looked and found a couple more stories..
Matt Farmer, an American Idol Contestant also lied about his TBI.
I think it may be time for shows like these to make sure they do background checks and get facts before airing them on tv. But why do they lie about things like this?
Maybe these two articles will shed some light on those questions.
Tide of New PTSD Cases Raise Fears of Fraud
Are Soldiers Faking Their Injuries to get More Benefits?
If you read those articles, it seems that a few doctors think that some soldiers are actually faking their aliments including PTSD and TBI in order to get more benefits after they retire from service. Since there isn't a true test for PTSD or TBI and symptoms can be exaggerated or even faked outright, it seems that there's probably a good chance that some of the people saying they have these ailments are probably faking it to get disability.
That's a really dirty thing to do because in essence they are taking money from those who really have suffered an injury and are really suffering from these things.
Tuesday, March 26, 2013
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Why would someone do this? What about the people out there who really are injured and need help?
ReplyDeleteIt looks like they are doing it to get more disability benefits after they get out of the service. It's a rotten thing to do. I just heard on the news that there are so many injured soldiers that are retiring or getting ready to retire that in some cases it takes an entire year just to get them disibility benefits and so these people that are faking or exagerating their injuries are making it worst for those who really need the help.
ReplyDeleteIT's horrible! They are trying to take benefits away from people who actually need it! J (the hubs) came back from Iraq with a lot of back probs due to all the gear he had to wear all the time. But he's afraid to go to the doctors cause he doesn't want to get medically discharged. Sigh.
ReplyDeleteWe're going through that right now FullmoonChick! My husband has had back problems for a few years now, the Dr (here) gave up trying to treat him after two attempts and now he's having to go to in-front of a med board!
ReplyDeleteGetting more benefits than you're owed is BS, but on the flip side there are a lot of guys getting screwed out of benefits they should be receiving b/c inept military doctors that don't keep good records. Everyone says make sure you document, document, document EVERY time the guys have a problem because they WILL try to screw you out of benefits. It sucks!
Gosh you guys, I hope things work out for you and the hubs. The whole system needs an overhaul it looks like. Just crazy.
ReplyDeleteYep it does suck :( After ten years of service, and numerous deployments he might get the boot because one POS doctor couldn't take the time to figure out a treatment plan.
ReplyDeleteThe process will take about a year. I'm hoping/praying/begging they let him stay in. If they don't we are pretty much screwed!
All a bunch wanting to get something for nothing, see it all around, but horrible to do none the less.
ReplyDelete