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Bracing For Gustav By Boat
By Bill Riales Anchor
Published: Mon, November 19, 2007 - 6:37 pm
Last Updated: Thursday, March 06, 2008 - 2:08 pm
Last Updated: Thursday, March 06, 2008 - 2:08 pm
Bill Riales
After a recent auto accident, Harold Williams hoped he might get a call from the other driver's insurance company-- Allstate. Williams did get a call a day later. But the call was not from Allstate. He told News 5's Bill Riales;
"I got a call from a lady named Lucille identifying herself as being from the clinic schedule, clinical scheduling or something to that effect. She wanted me to get to see the doctor, get checked out. I assumed she was with Allstate."
Williams says he went to his appointment at New Beginnings Medical Clinic on Government Blvd. He filled out some paperwork. Then he said he went into an adjoining room where he was to speak to Dr. Glen Wilcoxson.
Bill: "Now let me get this straight. You go into an adjoining room and you meet Dr. Glen Wilcoxson, correct?"
Harold: "No sir, I did not meet him, this Crystal dialed a speaker phone. As a matter of fact she put the speaker phone, turned the speaker phone on, I heard a dial tone and she did dial him up. And she said I have Mr. Harold Williams here and proceeded to give him the information about my visit up to that point, just general information about my complaints, the range of pain or so forth. And he said it sounded like something to do with the psyatic nerve."
Bill: "And he's telling you this on a speaker phone?"
Harold: "That's right."
It was a red flag for Williams. But it wasn't the only one.
During the same visit to New Beginnings, Dr. Wilcoxson referred him to Dr. John Morgan, a chiropracter who practices at Bayside Spine and Rehab, a clinic located in the same building with New Beginnings. Williams said Dr. Morgan told him;
"I needed to get an attorney because the insurance company would rip you off if you didn't have one--and he told me he could get a representative if I was interested in talking to one, it wouldn't hurt."
That's what happened. In just one visit to New Beginnings and Bayside Spine and Rehab, Harold Williams had spoken to a medical doctor and a chiropracter and signed a paper retaining a lawyer.
But Williams and others we spoke to said they all had just one question: How did this clinic get his name, phone number and other personal information so quickly after the accident?
Emma Dexter and her daughter Babette Collier were left wondering the same thing. A day after their accident, they got a call from the Clinic Scheduling Center and made an appointment at New Beginnings clinic.
Collier told us a lady on the phone told her, "She just told me to go to this clinic on government blvd and that they had my conditions and all my paperwork already there."
And while they were there they also spoke to a doctor on a speaker phone. Emma Dexter said, "This speakerphone type thing came on. And that was supposed to have been the doctor that I didn't know if he was in the next room or where he was, this voice just came on."
Collier said the Dr. told her, "he just told me that my injuries were real serious, real serious."
Bill: "And what was he going to do for you?"
Babette: "That Dr. Morgan was going to treat me."
These three, and others we spoke to, said that when they were called so quickly after their accidents they assumed it was the other person's insurance company calling but they found out it was the Clinic Scheduling Center. And what is it?
We searched corporate records to get the answer and found a trail of connections to Bayside Spine and Rehab that stretches from Mobile, to Kenner, Louisiana to Texas. The first stop is Mobile Police Headquarters. We found out a local woman, who answered an ad for a part time job, is paid 30 dollars a day to collect information from Mobile Police accident reports. they contain a wealth of information about accident victims-name, address, phone number, the type of car you drive and even the name of your insurance company.
From there, the woman emails that information to a representative of Chiropractic Strategies Group. it's owned by Dr. Kent Plambeck, who also owns Bayside Spine and Rehab-and the Clinic Scheduling Center.
Dr. Morgan, of Bayside, also confirms that Dr. Plambeck is the owner.
Dr. Plambeck has apparently arranged for one of his companies to collect accident victims' names, direct them to Dr. Wilcoxson who refers them to Dr. Morgan for chiropractic treatment.
More than two weeks ago mobile police changed their policy regarding who can look at public accident reports. Spokesman Eric Gallichant told us it was in response to the growing threat of identity theft. But the change wasn't restrictive enough to stop the local woman from gathering the information of accident victims. City attorney Larry Wettermark says the policy is still under review and may yet get changed again.
You should know that it is against the rules of the Alabama Board of Chiropractic Examiners for chiropractors to cold-call accident victims in an attempt to solicit business. Local attorneys and chiropractors we spoke to believe this is what is happening at Bayside Spine and Rehab. Dr. Morgan told us, though, he gets his referrals from various sources, including walk-ins, patient referrals and professional referrals from other medical providers. He says he also gets referrals from Dr. Glen Wilcoxson.
News 5 learned that Dr. Wilcoxson is a convicted felon. He lost his medical license in the early 1990's after being convicted on federal charges of wire fraud, mail fraud, money laundering and tax evasion. Dr. Wilcoxson did not respond to our requests for an interview.
While cold-calling patients is against the rules of the Chiropractic Board, we also found out Dr. Kent Plambeck was indicted in Texas for doing the same thing. Cold-calling in this manner in Texas is not just agains the rules, its against the law. It's a crime called barratry. We further found out the Kentucky Attorney General has filed suit against Plambeck and one of his companies for violating that state's do-not-call law. Plambeck has denied any wrongdoing in both cases.
Many of the people we spoke to said when they visited Bayside Spine and Rehab, not only did they speak with Dr. Wilcoxson on a speaker phone, Dr. Morgan also recommended an attorney to them. Morgan told News 5 its quite common for chiropractors to advise patients who have been injured in an auto accident to seek legal representation. Other established chiropractors in Mobile say that is true. However you might want to know that some of the patients we talked to were referred by Dr. Morgan to the Steven Mcginity Law Firm based in Lafayette, Louisiana, not Mobile. Mcginity is licensed to practice in Alabama and patients here met with an attorney representative from the Mcginity firm while visiting with Dr. Morgan. Her name is Kelly O'Connor. Dr. Morgan confirms he knows O'Connor because he is married to her.
In a written statement, Dr. Morgan told us he is a young chiropractor trying to establish a practice in Mobile. He says he 'knows he's being attacked by some established D.C.'s and the attorneys they get referrrals from. They obviously do not like the competition.' He also told News 5, "I hope you know they are using you to try to harm me."
In an email message, Dr. Kent Plambeck responded, "I believe that an advertiser with your station has asked you and every other media outlet in Mobile to investigate us and portray our clinic in a poor light because they view us as competition and desperately want your help to drive us out of business."
News 5 and Bill Riales became interested in this story from a phone call from Harold Williams, who became concerned about what was happening at Bayside. We've since learned that the Alabama Attorney General, Statefarm Insurance and the Chiropractic Board are investigating Bayside. Harold Williams has also filed complaints with the appropriate governing boards.
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Ike expected to be in the Gulf of Mexico by the middle of…
Dr. Wilcoxson also has New Beginnings Medical Group in Spanish Fort Al. where he administers chelation therapy among other medical services can anyone tell me what exactly he was involved with in Texas because I have family members who are seeing him. He promises that through his chelation (EDTA) therapy that he can dramatically increase their overall health and make them feel 10 years younger. My elderly family members have spent thousands of dollars seeing this man. Dr. Wilcoxon has sold them equipment and sadly I have not seen any changes that simple dietary modification wasn’t the answer for any change in their health if any at all. I am not discrediting this man this is simply my observation. I would like any information anyone could help me obtain.