Dr. Julie Griffith Update - More Fraud

Just when you think "Doctor" Julie Griffith might have actually learned something from this whole fiasco with me stopping payment and going to court and my complaining to anyone who will listen about her, she continues to amaze me with  her lack of integrity and level of corruption.  Either she is more conniving then I have given her credit for or she has poor judgement and no business sense. 

I've had 14 people contact me in various ways, all with similar complaints and issues with Dr. Julie Griffith.  Most issues with her have been regarding her hijacking and extorting money from unsuspecting patients during a serious health crisis. There is definitely a theme to all of the comments, stories and emails I've received and that is that they think there is some serious crazy and unethical medical/business practices going on at that office. Her billing practices are beyond reasonable and now I have just one more personal experience with her to prove what a fraud she is.

I've been making Dr. Griffith monthly payments for the one and only consultation we had with her that I had stopped payment on.  I'm paying her $100 a month on the 20th of each month.  My original bill was about $1600 for the one consult with her.  I stopped payment and with good reason.  We went to small claims court and the judge knocked $500 off the total due to her.  So that's what I'm making payments on, the JUDGEMENT + she is tacking on 10% interest. 

One of her patients emailed me and told me according to Marin County tax records, Dr. Griffith was in default on her HOME/office (since she lives in the same place she sees her patients) property taxes and that it was being sold in foreclosure.  Surprise! I could never figure out why this brilliant Neurologist would even bother with collecting a measly $1600 after what she had done to my son.  At $500 per hour, this doctor must be doing pretty well right??? And what doctor who makes $500 per hour would want to waste their valuable time sitting in Small Claims court?  You have to figure their time is worth something.  But when your patients are dropping you like flies and you have nothing better to do, I guess you fight for what little business revenue you can get; even from someone you knowingly wronged and has opening and legitimately disputed it. How many exceptional and reputable neurologists do you know who are broke and chasing $1600?  Sorry.  I digress.

So I get this "statement" from her office the other day in the mail, letting me know she has "moved her practice".  But what was even more curious about the statement was how inaccurate it was. With Dr. Griffith's track record, I highly doubt this was by any kind of innocent mistake or clerical error. 

First of all she is charging me interest for the last year + that we have been in dispute over this payment; when she can only be billing me for the small claims judgement-yet she's going all the way back to April 2009 and trying to tack on interest from there. 

I also love how she has me classified as being in "collection".  Hmmm.  I did exactly what the court judgement told me to do.  I had so many days to contact her and 1.) either pay her in full or 2.) make a payment agreement with her--which I did within the time frame given.  I contacted her to make payment arrangements, she did not contact me as if to collect.  So as long as I keep my agreement and make my $100 payments per month to her, how am I past due or in collection? It's what SHE AGREED TO.

My favorite discrepancy within the statement is how she has my original balance at $2300+ showing a $975 credit memo.  NONE of her numbers even add up.  What the hell is that all about?  Never, ever was that my amount due to her from our one and only consultation.  She's concocted an arbitrary amount that was never charged or billed or authorized or documented to me and now is acting as if she is giving it back to me in the form of a credit memo????  Uhm, excuse me but I'm thinking that has TAX FRAUD written all over it.  Is she trying to write off this pretend balance as a "bad debt" on her taxes perhaps?  Whatever it is she is trying to pull is totally suspect; just like her "practice".  I called her office and tried to speak with the bookkeeper, but there was a definite language barrier there.  She couldn't understand half of what I was saying.  She tried her best to explain to me that even though Dr. Griffith never actually billed me for the $2300 that she did work on our case and so that's what the charge is there for, but rest assured, I don't have to pay it because it's a credit to me like I should be thanking her for that.

Trying my best to keep my composure, because by now I have more than lost my patience with this "practice" and their shenanigans, I questioned her as to why a Doctor, who was fired for negligence and unethical billing practices, would be working on a file trying to drum up more charges?  I surely never authorized any further work.  Was she trying to come up with a new misdiagnosis to give us?  I know it wasn't from ever actually speaking with Dr. Griffith on the phone because she won't come to the phone for less than $375 per hour and I never ever spoke with her on the phone before.  So, what could she have possibly been working on besides her malpractice defense?  I told the bookkeeper I wanted the statement corrected with the real and actual documented amount that I owed on it and not some random amount that Dr. Julie Griffith pulled out of her ass.  Why not just put $10k or $15k down on my statement???  it wouldn't be any less true than her putting down that I owed her $2300.

I calmly wrote Dr. Griffith another Letter and sent it certified so that she can't say it was never received.  How long can this woman, pretending to be a doctor, actually stay in business like this?  I'm stumped.  What's she going to do for money when I'm done paying her for our one "consultation"? 

I also spoke with HIPPA last week and they are going to continue with investigating my complaint of how she illegally obtained Doodle's records 11 1/2 months after we had been seen (once) in her office as if she was our treating physician and provided them with an invalid request for information.