Philadelphia Transit Wincing Over Faked Injuries
|
|
LEAD: When there is an accident involving the mass transit system here, people for miles around start limping, holding their necks and calling lawyers who advertise ”no win, no fee” for personal injury suits. When there is an accident involving the mass transit system here, people for miles around start limping, holding their necks and calling lawyers who advertise ”no win, no fee” for personal injury suits. A case in point: The train crash last month at 30th Street Station, the worst in Philadelphia’s history, may also set a record for fraudulent claims, transit officials say. Four people died as a result of the derailment and 165 others sought immediate treatment in area hospitals. But 264 people have already filed personal injury claims, and more claims arrive every day from people who waited days or weeks to see a doctor. Transit officials say the late claims are being looked at with suspicion. So great has the problem of fraud become that the transit system here spent 17 cents of every fare dollar paying personal injury claims in 1988. $46 Million Paid for Claims Last year payments for claims totaled $46 million of the $306 million in fares taken in by the nation’s fourth-largest transit system. That is the highest payout in the nation, said James M. Kilcur, the general counsel of the Southeast Pennsylvania Transportation Authority, which has plastered anti-fraud posters in every one of its buses, trains and stations in Philadelphia and its suburbs. ”File a false claim against Septa and you could go to jail,” one ad says. What makes the claims so high in Philadelphia is a puzzle to which no one has an answer. Officials of Septa say its safety record, which Federal reports suggest is comparable to that of other major systems, does not explain the situation. ‘A Way of Life’ Some officials believe that the problem has something to do with the nature of life in Philadelphia, which has the highest auto insurance rates in the nation. ”Insurance fraud is pervasive in Philadelphia,” said Michael M. Baylson, the United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania who created an insurance fraud task force in 1988. ”It’s a way of life for too many people here.” More : query.nytimes.com |