These "doctors" should be stripped of their medical licenses.

That's probably true, but I count at least three violations of the law here... http://legis.wisconsin.gov/rsb/code/med/med010.pdf

Who will file the complaints? If someone did file complaints, even if nothing came of it, it might go a little ways towards making these doctors more responsible in their professions. Essentially, a doctor who will write a fraudulent note for one thing might do it for some other thing. No one would look the other way if these doctors were writing prescriptions for narcotics. I definitely would like to see them reprimanded (probably the worst that would happen) but doctors cover for one another and it takes a lot to get these cases before the Board.

Yes, apparently there have been complaints filed.

The teachers have the right to protest, but to get paid their daily pay for it? And then the taxpayers get to pay it? (Having just added up our federal, state, sales and property taxes for the year, it just doesn't sit right to me.)

There are some who openly admitted they called in just to be there, but these quack wastes of human flesh gave them doctors' notes anyway. They are criminals.

Dr. Patrick A McKenna #53640-20 Dr. Louis A. Sanner #29389-20 Dr. Kathleen A. Oriel #36704-20 Dr. James H. Shropshire #33770-20 Dr. Hannah M. Keevil #33734-20 Dr. Bernard F. Micke #21403-20 Dr. Anne R. Eglash #36055-20 These are the quacks

Exactly, the "doctors" are breaking the law by issuing them, and the teachers are breaking the law by accepting them.. then breaking more laws if they turn them in.

These are the quacks. Dr. Patrick A McKenna #53640-20 Dr. Louis A. Sanner #29389-20 Dr. Kathleen A. Oriel #36704-20 Dr. James H. Shropshire #33770-20 Dr. Hannah M. Keevil #33734-20 Dr. Bernard F. Micke #21403-20 Dr. Anne R. Eglash #36055-20

Heard if anything is going to be done to them? They know who they are. It would be easy for the law or the medical board to go after them. Heck in some cases they even have news footage of them doing it at the protests.

Yup, why should we wonder if they would break one law when they so publicly break others. These are the quacks... Dr. Patrick A McKenna #53640-20 Dr. Louis A. Sanner #29389-20 Dr. Kathleen A. Oriel #36704-20 Dr. James H. Shropshire #33770-20 Dr. Hannah M. Keevil #33734-20 Dr. Bernard F. Micke #21403-20 Dr. Anne R. Eglash #36055-20

I agree, and doctors who are caught in sting operations aiding in insurance and disability fraud lose their licenses and face criminal charges so I think the same should happen to these doctors.

Of course I hope they are keeping records of their consultations. It would also be interesting to see how these consultations are coded and billed :)

No, this isn't my "primary concern", but sorry if I think doctors committing felonies is trivial. Why should I show solidarity with people I don't agree with? I do support their right to protest, but I DO NOT support them breaking laws in order to do so. I do not support them exploiting students to do so, and I don't support the quack doctors falsifying medical documents to support defrauding the taxpayers. If you want to play that game of stupidity, Maybe you use doctors for nefarious purposes yourself, so this just seems like no big deal?

They're breaking the law and committing medical malpractice. They can show solidarity by JOINING the protests, not by committing felonies. "Maybe you use doctors for nefarious purposes yourself" That wouldn't surprise me. A lot of people go to doctors for fake doctor's notes. Maybe that's why HawaiiGopher is so quick to defend the practice.

And, what bothers me is the taxpayers will pay those wages for those days! And this right after adding up our federal, state, sales and property taxes for the year. The left is all for expanding programs and shipping out jobs (nafta, etc), but don't they wonder just who it is that's going to pay for all these benefits and programs when jobs are scarce? It might be romantic to think we should become third world status along with so many others, but my bet is these so called 'leaders' (ever expanding government) won't be third world at all! "Nothing new under the sun."

I wonder if these "teachers" would accept a note from students' parents they know to be fake?

No...they wouldn't. I know...tried it. It wasn't good.

Never mind about the teacher's pay. I just read your comment above which explains it clearly.

What is this stupidity? The teachers called in sick, when they just wanted to go to the demonstration. That goes against their own labor contract.. the one they claim to be defending. These "doctors" didn't do exams, in fact, they didn't even ask any medical questions. They simply asked how many days they want the falsified sick slips to cover. Go ahead and defend them if you want, but you are only defending law breakers.

I will never support a law just because it is a law. It is a crime to make calling in sick illegal. You say they are not really sick. I say who has the right to say they are not sick. You agree to work for someone for money, you do not agree to be a slave to them or sell yourself to them. No government has the right to take away your rights and if they make laws that take them away then the law should not be obeyed. Too many employers break the laws all the time and get away with it because they make money. Yet you say the workers have no right to break a law like that which is wrong. There is a state government in my country that is trying to legislate away workers rights in breach of their employment agreement. That is a crime, that is abuse of power. The unions here are fighting it in the courts and I hope they win.

I agree with you that they were breaking the law. I do not like laws like that because they can be used against people. In the case you are referring to I would not claim illnesses to attend a rally. I have always taken personal time or loss of pay for attending. I do not support the doctors but I do understand them. In your country life is much tougher for workers. In my years of work I have enountered people abusing their power as bosses to humiliate, mistreat and bully workers. It was their behaviour that caused me to join a union and stand up to them. I hate to see injustice. I have seen people accused of illegally taking time off work when they were sick and had a certificate. The manager in question believed that no worker had the right to take any time off and should bow and scrape to him. We were a small admin union with little power but we made a difference because we stood up for our rights. Having seen people abuse their power to break the law and intimidate subordinates I am dubious of any law which is not clear and can be twisted. The law says that it is illegal to call in sick when not sick. In this case correct but the problem comes in the definition of who is sick and who is not. I was harassed once by a petty little secretary who thought herself superior to me because she was of a higher rank. She accused me of faking an illness once because she did not trust my doctor. I had a certificate but she humiliated me in front of the whole office accusing me of cheating my employer. It was not her right or her role to do so but she had a real superiority complex and she was a nasty person. She just wanted to make my life miserable because that gave her pleasure. It is illegal to do this to workers but most will not take action against them for fear of losing their jobs. I was insecure at the time. Had it happened a few years later when I was no longer insecure I would have challenged her and put her back in her place. I did it to a nasty manager who was higher than her for causing major distress to a worker. The world is a complex place and too many people abuse their power.

Only, these "doctors" are doing in a very public forum on tv. That blatant disregard for the law along with this very public display reflects very poorly on 1) the protesters who may be trying to pass off these fake notes and 2) the doctors who are writing them and 3) the medical institution or hospital where these doctors work. At the very least, there are going to be credibility issues, integrity issues, breach of contract, very likely fraud if the doctors charge for these notes, and at least several investigations into the inner workings of the hospital. This is the very least of the consequences. There is no smoke screen. It is just another example of how badly these adults are acting in front of the children they are "supposedly" teaching. Combine that with the other stuff, such as the signs, the runaway politicians, closing of schools, making parents scramble at the last minute, and so on. That is what is really hurting the protesters. Their public image is tanking rapidly.

This whole thread is a smokescreen for the real thought behind it, which is wanting to break the unions. And their public image is not tanking rapidly. On the contrary, it is rising rapidly. Support among Wisconsin residents is now at 62%. A local pizza provider in Lansing has taken orders from 38 states and several foreign countries for pizzas to be paid for by the caller and delivered to the protesters. All of this noise about the doctors is just that--noise. Nobody really cares about that. As for all the harm to the public from public employees who do not show up for work, the alternative is just to cave in and give up everything they and their unions have fought for all these years. The governor wants to destroy the unions--all of them. If he succeeds, other states will follow, and soon the only people with jobs will be illegal immigrants--which would make the Republicans happy.

he tried to destroy the public labor union when he was county executive. Now all of the people he illegally fired have been ordered to be reinstated, with back pay. It will cost the county more than $400,000 extra. This fight in Wisconsin is an attempt to destroy the middle class. Those union members protesting ARE the middle class. They don't drive Cadillacs and they don't play golf at the private country club. They don't take their 30' foot out on the lake in the summer. They are middle class. I understand why the Governor of Wisconsin and Limbaugh and Beck want to destroy the middle class. What I do not understand is why you and people like you want to destroy the middle class. When I say be honest, I am saying you do not give a flip if a doctor hands out an excuse from work that is not valid, according to your learned medical opinion. You want to destroy the union. I stand squarely behind what I said. You are being dishonest by pretending you are outraged by what some doctor did, when that is not the issue at all. Walker has said he intends to destroy the unions. Of course, he only bargains with public unions. But he has been clear about what he wants. He wants to destroy them all.

But I always heard the Canadian system is pure as the wind driven snow. ;~D

They lack the ethics to accept anything but the full power they have enjoyed and abused far too long.

It's nice to see doctors committing crimes?

That's the difference here Rappeter. Your doctors turn to criminal acts out of desperation. I'm not saying that to condone their crimes, but as you say, it's the only way to make a living there. Here, doctors make in the hundreds of thousands of dollars. I'm sure if your doctors made anywhere close to even 310,100 RON, the ethical ones wouldn't bother taking bribes... or put up with others who do so. These "doctors" are violating their licenses for nothing but petty politics.

Yes, you have a point here. An average doctor salary is around 1200-1500 RON, which is not so low, but not so much neither.

Exactly, Fannita, and I have stated many times that I support all of the protesters right to be speaking out here. I commend the teachers and state workers who did it right, either waiting until the weekend, or taking personal time so they could attend the demonstration. It is the criminal activity, lies and violations of the very contract they claim to be defending that I am speaking out against.