ULPT Made a fake doctors note, anything else to do?
Posted by RedditSolutions000@reddit | UnethicalLifeProTips | View on Reddit | 45 comments
Needed a doctors note for work but couldn’t afford the cost for simply being sick, so I edited an old note. Listed the number of someone who could verify the note on the note itself in case.
I work in city government adjacent, how likely are they to try and verify it? If I get caught, what are the chances I face legal actions? What can I do to avoid anything?
brimryan@reddit
I can't tell you how many notes I've written. Say, more than 300 less than 800. I have never had a single person verify a note with me. Never, not once.
In fact, to verify a note is actually a HIPAA violation. All my notes say, "should you need to contact me further, please obtain written permission."
GoodGoodGoody@reddit
You might be writing a lot of notes but you don’t understand the law.
TheCivilEngineer@reddit
I have never seen somebody try to verify doctors note. I cannot imagine your doctor would tell them anything without an explicit release for HIPA purposes anyway.
Objective-Amount1379@reddit
My employer just called my doctor to verify a note. My doctor was PISSED lol. Not sure why, she just said it’s unusual and my HR person seemed dumb (fair). So yes it happens but not often
GoodGoodGoody@reddit
Pissed? Then your doctor has no clue. Drs notes are written to be read by third parties (employers, insurance companies, etc) so of course some of those notes will be verified.
Skeggy-@reddit
So an employer can call to verify the notes authenticity which is fine. They can’t call to get info on the visit though, just whether the note is real.
Odds are if you’re employer is verifying doctors notes, they’re looking for a reason to let you go.
The-Bi-Surprise@reddit
Or it's just standard procedure to scare people into not taking leave "unless it's dire". I've worked a few places where dr. Notes were required per policy, and application of that policy depended on the power trip of the manager.
Skeggy-@reddit
Depends on your state laws. My state for example, employer needs to wait for 3 or more consecutive days to require a dr notes.
Kramdawgers@reddit
Just say “well the US government isn’t working, I thought we weren’t either!”
LettuceTomatoOnion@reddit
Dr. Vandalay I presume?
meangreen23@reddit
Dr Von Nostran! Art Vandelay was an architect.
LettuceTomatoOnion@reddit
Dr. Vandalay I presume? Thought he was into latex? Okay then!
laughing_cat@reddit
Make sure and fold the note.
Vitroswhyuask@reddit
Someone i worked with did that, a valued contributor, she was fired the next day for falsification of records. If they falsified records they can do that for work and would be a huge liability. Just say you don't have a note and deal with the repercussions
Annual_Government_80@reddit
They will probably only try to verify if they think your performance is lacking or you have done questionable things in the past. If caught probably no legal action but you will be fired
Dull_Banana1377@reddit
Yes, legal action. Making a fake doctor's note is fraud and a felony.
Annual_Government_80@reddit
I agree it’s illegal but most employers won’t go that direction they will simply terminate
Dull_Banana1377@reddit
I don't think that's up to the employer. I believe it would be up to the doctor.
meangreen23@reddit
I work for a medical office and we wouldn’t bother…I don’t care if you say we said you were here 🤷♀️ drs notes don’t disclose medical details anyway. When you falsify a prescription - that becomes a legal issue that people go after
Annual_Government_80@reddit
The employer probably wouldn’t notify the doctor
Barbiedawl83@reddit
How would they verify the doctors note without calling the office and therefore tipping them off?
RIPGoblins2929@reddit
Lmao the fuck
rugroach@reddit
Just do a telemedicine visit and get one. Sometimes they're free.
Total_Belt7576@reddit
I can call them from your doctor's phone number for a few 🧐
olgasman@reddit
Ha! Good luck talking to a human being!
eveningwindowed@reddit
Doctors hate the principle of having to write doctors notes so much many of them will just write you one
IcedHemp77@reddit
I went to an urgent care with a bad cold. Doctors like yeah plenty of fluids get rest why are you here. Told her I need a doctors note for work and she rolled her eyes and asked me “how many days you feel like taking off” so I added a couple days and stayed home and enjoyed the sick pay
Ok_Work7396@reddit
If they do call your friend, have your friend claim medical privacy about the topic.
Joker8392@reddit
I usually have to leave a message with my doctor through an annoying phone tree system the goes to a corporate headquarters ever since he got forced into a larger healthcare umbrella. That being said if you work in city government you should have insurance. Usually that’s like a $40 copay, but honestly unless you’re chronically missing work are they going to care? Most places give points whether you went to the doctor or. Or they just can’t give you more points until the note expires.
gunsforevery1@reddit
“Can’t verify the note due to HIPAA policies. Patient doctor confidentiality.”
Specialist_Name_7295@reddit
Wrong
gunsforevery1@reddit
https://www.hhs.gov/hipaa/for-professionals/privacy/laws-regulations/index.html#:~:text=The%20Privacy%20Rule%20protects%20all,health%20information%20(PHI).%22
If I’m seeing a fertility doctor because I’m concerned about myself shooting blanks and can’t get hard, but i don’t want people to know that I’m impotent, you really think a doctor or office assistance is going to take a blind phone call and say “yes, u/gunsforevery1 is a patient here and he was seen on this day”.
What if I had herpes and went to a urologist/STD specific doctor to check out my junk, you really think the office is going to confirm I’m a patient there to a random phone call?
Specialist_Name_7295@reddit
They will confirm that they saw you but not what for. Did you not read the link you posted or do you just not understand it properly? If requesting doctors notes is legal in your state, it is legal for them to say “so and so was in fact here for an appointment at this day and time.” That’s it. It’s very simple.
gunsforevery1@reddit
Thats disclosing information about the patient that could identify health conditions. Agains, if I’m shooting blamks and I don’t want anyone to know but I’m required to bring a note, the note can simply say “I am a doctor and saw XYZ for an appointment”. The employer calling a specific doctors office to confirm if the employee is actually a patient at that clinic won’t be disclosed because it could identify the type of illness/injury the employee is being seen for.
If the office name is “limp dick cures!” But I have a note from Dr. David, Janet the receptionist at “Limp Dick Cures” isn’t going to go confirm that I am a patient there and was seen at a certain time and date because that would expose me as potentially suffering from limp dick syndrome.
Specialist_Name_7295@reddit
So all doctors notes for employers are illegal then is what you are saying? lol
gunsforevery1@reddit
No. That’s not what I said. I said a stranger calling up random doctors office and asking “ is Specialidt a patient here at Limp Dick Cures? He said he was here for an appointment. Oh he is? Thank you”
“Haha specialist has a limp dick! Why else would he go to a doctor that specializes in limp dicks?!”
Again, the last doctors note I got did not say “XYZ Pediatrics and ENT Specialists of Southern New Jersey 555-5555”. It said “Dr X, patient Y was seen by me for an appointment and is clear to return to school”.
A doctors note for work should say the same thing. “Specialist was seen for a medical appointment by Me, Dr X. Specialist is clear to return to work”. Nothing more. What you choose to tell your boss is completely up to you, the office will not disclose over the phone to a stranger.
Specialist_Name_7295@reddit
Yea you clearly still do not understand what I’m saying nor how HIPPA applies.
gunsforevery1@reddit
K
Specialist_Name_7295@reddit
https://arechigo-stokka.com/blog/can-my-employer-contact-my-doctor-without-my-consent/
Specialist_Name_7295@reddit
This applies to workman’s comp and excusing absences, the latter being in states where that’s legal. You can keep trying but, you’re wrong. I’ve had a conversation with a lawyer about this exact thing because I had an issue with upper management requesting doctors notes from my drivers
Specialist_Name_7295@reddit
Also, notice how you used the word “potentially?” That’s important too.
Specialist_Name_7295@reddit
You clearly don’t understand how this works. You giving your employer a doctors note is giving them permission to call and make sure that you were there. That’s why some states have EXPLICT labor laws saying you are not required to give them a doctors note
Specialist_Name_7295@reddit
Whether the doctor wants to say that you were there or not is completely seperate from HIPPA laws. If they say WHY you were there and you did not sign something to allow that disclosure, then yes. But simply saying you were present there is different. I get what you’re saying and understand your point, that just isn’t the law.
But again, a lot of states, like the state I am in, an employer can ASK you for a note if you call off sick, but they cannot punish you for not providing one, only in specific circumstances
PansophicNostradamus@reddit
Even if your employer calls your doctor, they won’t discuss or disclose any information to anyone that you, the patient, have not previously authorized to receive such information.
The note itself does not express or imply consent to disclose information.
Source: Scheduling coordinator for a fully HIPPA complaint doctor’s office.
Specialist_Name_7295@reddit
Depending on your state and the situation, in most cases employers can not force you to provide a doctors note to excuse an absence unless it had a major effect on operations