Western Standard


EXCLUSIVE： The potential fraud in Canadian dial-a-doctor services

Mentioned
Monty Ghosh

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Summary

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As Canadians struggle to access primary health care, many are turning to online dial-a-doctors to fill the gap. But this quick and convenient alternative may spark potential abuse. In an investigation conducted by the Western Standard over the past couple of weeks, you were able to go online, look up online doctors, and book an appointment within hours.

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00:00:00.000 As Canadians struggle to access primary health care, many are turning to online
00:00:08.520 dial-a-doctors to fill the gap. But this quick and convenient alternative may
00:00:12.060 spark potential abuse. In an investigation conducted by the Western
00:00:16.440 Standard over the past couple of weeks, you were able to go online, look up
00:00:20.500 online Doctors Alberta and book an appointment within hours.
00:00:24.000 hello hi yes that's him I'm speaking oh yeah I've been waiting for your call okay
00:00:36.660 how can I help I just I've been really stressed out recently like I've been
00:00:40.980 having trouble sleeping and I just need like like a couple weeks off from work
00:00:45.540 like two three weeks like I'm just really yeah so you know so in terms of
00:00:51.180 sick note i can write you for two weeks okay um and yeah it's not covered by our better health
00:00:59.260 or the government so it's seen as a private payment so there will be in charge for that from
00:01:04.340 you okay how much how much would it be roughly it's 55 55 okay yeah that's fine
00:01:10.300 as you from that last clip i was able to get two weeks off from work just by saying i was stressed
00:01:16.860 had a bit of headache and wasn't sleeping all that great i booked another appointment with
00:01:21.060 another online health clinic here's how it went I've been stressed out from work
00:01:26.040 and yeah work-related and as a result I've been I've not really been sleeping
00:01:32.460 like well at all like I've tried melatonin yes that's it yeah I've been
00:01:38.840 trying it just it's not it doesn't work
00:01:43.180 sleeping pills but are you interested in having those okay so there's a fee for
00:01:49.980 the doctor's note okay of course yeah if it's one week we can give it for $35
00:01:56.700 sure if it's two weeks it's 60 if it's one month it's 90 I think two weeks
00:02:02.580 would probably be optimal so it's $60 for two weeks and then I will send your
00:02:09.960 prescription to the pharmacy as well okay that'll be very good as you heard
00:02:15.000 in that last clip I was offered I did not ask I was given Zopoclon a highly
00:02:18.960 addictive sleeping pill from one of these online physicians.
00:02:22.680 I discussed the potential harm this might have with the University of Calgary's Dr.
00:02:26.380 Monty Ghosh, who specializes in addiction.
00:02:28.680 So like the way this kind of works is that if, for example, they were prescribing
00:02:31.480 azopliclone, which can be potentially addictive, that could be problematic.
00:02:36.180 If they're prescribing opioids or benzodiazepines, that could be potentially
00:02:39.820 problematic as well.
00:02:41.040 Now, the deal is also is that I'm sure there's regulations around this, or
00:02:44.160 there's maybe not regulations, but standards with them in terms of internal things that they're
00:02:49.760 willing to do and not willing to do. I think it also comes down to physician comfort. Some
00:02:53.800 physicians will be more comfortable prescribing things over the phone than others. But there
00:02:57.960 could be a potential case or situation in which this could be misused as a system. So if someone
00:03:04.900 is substance seeking, if they're seeking for, if they're looking for benzodiazepines or opioids,
00:03:08.980 prescription opioids, prescription pain meds. They could maybe potentially use these services
00:03:14.900 to access those types of meds without having a proper evaluation, proper history and physical
00:03:20.220 examination, and without having proper access to medical records, which is crucial to determining
00:03:25.280 what sometimes a person needs or may not need. Speaking to the billing, going through the
00:03:31.500 process, it seems like a lot of these places are stressing e-transfer rather than any sort of
00:03:36.760 formal credit card and do you think that there's again speaking on the sort of accessibility of it
00:03:41.880 it's it's good for people who need those sort of medications who need them fast and that's
00:03:45.800 obviously something that is a necessary thing but does it not open the door for these kind of like
00:03:51.080 e-transfers uh it's not as traceable like it is but it's it's the virtual equivalent of cash in
00:03:57.200 hand is there not a risk for kind of paying for more like if oh like even when i was doing it
00:04:01.940 like they offered as for a sick note. And they said for two weeks, it's $60 for three weeks,
00:04:06.860 it's 100. So it's kind of like pay, pay to get. So do you think that there's kind of a risk for
00:04:11.400 that as well? Again, like just speaking to the general pay to play sort of way it's working?
00:04:16.760 That is definitely a concern. I mean, I would say if someone needs a sick note to get it from work,
00:04:20.920 they should probably have a proper assessment done. And typically a physician could actually
00:04:25.100 see them do a physical exam on them, or another clinician such as a nurse practitioner. So this
00:04:29.980 is very concerning uh the pay to play so that means you basically pay for your own sick note if
00:04:34.380 you need to take a leave or if you want to go on vacation uh for some people 20 bucks to pay for
00:04:38.940 one of those notes is not that big of a deal uh so that is highly concerning i think that's misuse
00:04:43.180 of the system and misuse of of our resources and that definitely needs to be flagged at the
00:04:48.620 culmination of this investigation i hope you've realized just how much of a gray area this
00:04:52.860 burgeoning industry is there is a place for it of course canadians are struggling to access
00:04:57.820 healthcare these days and need alternatives. But how little regulation and the ease at which I was
00:05:04.120 able to obtain sick notes and prescription drugs is really concerning. I've reached out to the
00:05:09.340 Alberta Medical Association and I followed up and I've heard nothing back. I hope that this
00:05:14.200 investigation prompts change from these kind of authorities. For Western Standard, I'm Jackson Loy.