When we last left bodybuilding firefighter Felix Arroyo, his application for disability retirement ($65K per year, tax free) had been rejected and he had been offered back his (relatively light duty) job with the Boston Fire Department. Arroyo declined to accept the job and was fired. Now we read in the Boston Globe that he is facing criminal charges in federal court for mail fraud, the result of a seemingly able-bodied individual claiming to be disabled.
The case against Arroyo is as powerful as his biceps. Two back specialists have testified that there is no objective evidence of a back problem and that Arroyo’s description of the pain (“8 out of 10”) was inconsistent with his mobility. Testimony was also given by Dr. John Mahoney, the doctor who originally disabled Arroyo (and whose original diagnosis we termed “Mahoney’s Baloney“). Mahoney testified that he would have changed his evaluation if he had known Arroyo was a body builder.
“If someone is bodybuilding, they’re playing baseball, they’re doing activities…that’s not compliant” with their recovery,” Mahoney said.
Good for Dr. Mahoney. He owned up to his mistake and assumed responsibility for it.
Tough Defense
Arroyo’s attorney, Timothy Watkins, has his work cut out, for sure. He says that Arroyo was “working through the pain.” (Aren’t we all?) He also noted that the doctors’s interpretations of the exams are subjective and that the pain Arroyo suffered could have been the result of stress (the stress, for example, of fabricating a disability?).
Perhaps the most damaging evidence is the video of Arroyo flexing for an audience at a bodybuilding competition a few weeks after he filed for disabiility. The video shows him prancing around the stage, stretching his ripped arms and chiseled legs in all directions and flexing the formidable muscles in his back. Then again, maybe he was just having a good day.
Arroyo is by no means alone in his attempt to take advantage of a lax system. He could argue that he was only doing what many other firefighters have done. True enough, but Arroyo alone is on trial here. Testimony continues. And while no trial result is a foregone conclusion (did someone say “Casey Anthony”?), Arroyo is likely to be working out for a while in a relatively confined space.
Posts Tagged ‘Boston’
Annals of Fraud: Buffed, Ripped, Indicted
Tuesday, August 9th, 2011Boston pilot to import prescription drugs from Canada
Monday, August 2nd, 2004In the continuing saga of the high cost of prescription drugs, a report in Business Insurance last week announced that Boston launched a drug reimportation program. It’s a pilot program so far, but in taking this step, Boston becomes the largest municipality to defy federal law against drug imports. The pilot is currently restricted to Boston employees and retirees. Mayor Menino estimates that it will save more than $1 million in the first year.
The issue of drug imports isn’t just a controversial one here – some in Canada are expressing concern over the Boston deal too, fearing that it may lead to Canadian prescription drug shortages.
For more information, see past posts:
More on the prescription drug saga
Ouch! Pain drugs or drug pains