A bad break: Friend encounters insurance fraud overseas

June 29--A new appreciation for American values came to a friend of ours after a near-tragic trip to Russia last month.

Dr. Scott Miller of Spokane, assistant professor of music at Whitworth University was on a Baltic tour, accompanying an old friend needing help with daily dialysis for a failing kidney. In St. Petersburg, the man was injured in the street, breaking his arm. Both were rushed to a big hospital outside the city.

It soon became apparent that not only was the medical service poor, but that the Russians were interested primarily in getting the man's insurance. Insurance fraud, Scott found when reading the state department's reports, is big over there.

An operation for the broken arm turned out badly, with the man allergic to the anesthetics used, and he dropped in and out of a coma at the hospital. Nobody spoke English except a couple of slick young Russians claiming to represent the hospital, but whom he found actually worked for the tour company. Scott's friend would have died without him present.

After a week, the man's family hired a Canadian medical jet to bring him back to Bellingham (for $115,000). The Russians wanted $150,000 and were planning to fly a nurse from Thailand to accompany them. The whole experience made Scott feel that insurance fraud was the heart of the whole affair, and that the man was targeted for that reason.

He is getting demands for more money from them. It has made Scott Miller doubly thankful he's home in a country with upright standards.

Reach Rachel Hansen at 509-664-7139 or hansen@wenatcheeworld.com. Follow her on Twitter at @gowenatchee.

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