Is corruption widespread among doctors in the US?

I’d say the answer is a definite yes.

From what I’ve heard through the grapevine—both from patients and doctors on the inside—it’s pretty clear.
It all ties back to that recent scandal over at the Democratic Party hospital.
You know, the one where that cardiologist, Smith, got caught red-handed taking a $20,000 bribe on camera.
Now his colleagues are all acting like they don't know him, trying to wash their hands of both his reputation and his crimes.
Word is some people even set up safeguards, using specific private clinics to funnel bribes through middlemen instead of handing over cash directly.

What have you guys seen? Any stories from your friends or family, and what’s your take on this whole mess?

Look, I've dealt with my fair share of doctors and hospitals lately... let me tell you something though. At Mayo Clinic, I’ve had both the good and the absolute worst. Over at the ophthalmology department, everyone was actually incredibly polite—well, except for the nurse at the intake desk who acted like her only job during shift hours was sipping coffee in peace—but they did get me in fast. But then? The ER neurology ward... I don't even have the words. Back then, I didn't even know I had MS yet, and the neurologist there basically told me nothing was wrong and sent me on my way. My mom literally had to lead me out by the hand because I couldn't see a damn thing and could barely stay on my feet.
I was admitted in Cleveland, and honestly, that experience proved to me that not every single doctor is crooked. Seriously, stop generalizing everything and throwing everyone into the same bucket.

Who’s making generalizations here?

I’m asking for a broad consensus, which I’d put at maybe 20% up...

(though my gut feeling is actually north of 50%)

especially when you look at the actual specialists!

Yeah, right... I’m just so incredibly corrupt. Because of all my "dirty money," I’ve been driving this old Hyundai for seven years now—and honestly, I love the thing—plus I’ve got a mortgage that’ll probably outlive me. As for all that cash from those blue envelopes? I don't know what to do with it... I just toss handfuls of bills out the window every day at five PM. Come and get it if you want...

Can we please stop obsessing over these isolated incidents? Just look at the economy and the local government and tell me where the real corruption lives. Sure, maybe a few doctors are shady, but it’s not some widespread epidemic, no matter what the news outlets claim. But try getting a building permit around here without greasing a few palms first... 😠

Anthony Kim18 said:From what I hear from my own sources—patients and doctors alike, I know what I'm talking about.

If you've got actual evidence like that, just take it straight to the FBI. What are you waiting for? Just venting on a forum isn't really doing much.

Benjamin Murphy2 said:Yeah, right—I’m just incredibly corrupt. Because I'm so crooked, I drive a seven-year-old Hyundai (which I absolutely love) and I've got a mortgage that'll probably outlive me. Honestly, I have no idea what to do with all this cash from those shady envelopes, so I just toss money out my window every day at five—come grab some if you want.

Can we please stop with these sweeping generalizations? Look at the actual economy and the government for a second before telling me where the real corruption lies. Sure, you might find a few bad actors in the medical field, but it’s definitely not a systemic epidemic, regardless of what the headlines claim. Just try getting a building permit approved without greasing someone's palm once. 😠

Seriously, a colleague of mine told me it's exactly like that once you finish med school! We all basically have to mentally prepare ourselves for the fact that the papers are going to drag our names through the mud. Sadly, there are people who go into medicine solely because they want to bleed poor people dry during these tough times... 🙄

I’m telling you again... Not everyone is out there cutting corners. For me, "generally speaking," we aren't looking at more than 20% corruption across the board... (who knows!). It’s like pouring 20% wine into a glass, filling the rest with water, and then claiming you're drinking straight wine!
PS. Look, I’m not a doctor and I don't have any medical background (even though my spouse is a physician, just not here in the States), but I really can't stand these kinds of half-baked posts.

rapidheron said:If you've got evidence that solid, just take it straight to the FBI—what are you waiting for? Posting this kind of stuff on a forum is a pretty inefficient way to handle things.

🙏
amen

Kudos to those who don't fall into the trap of saying, "Well, I don't take bribes," and then projecting their own personal integrity onto an entire profession. Sometimes, trying to show solidarity like that just sounds incredibly misguided, doesn't it?
It’s true—not every doctor is corrupt, but we have to admit that a significant number of them are. And we shouldn't define corruption solely by someone pocketing thousands of dollars; we need to consider smaller amounts of cash or even gifts, which are just as inappropriate. It seems like the practice of accepting gifts isn't viewed as corruption by some, but that's simply wrong. I actually saw someone bragging about being honest and uncorrupted on one thread, while on another subforum, they were mentioning how they received a gift from a patient—as if that doesn't count as a bribe.

Personally, I’ve dealt with both the "good" and the "bad." When my mom needed surgery, a surgeon tried to convince my dad that her condition was much worse than it actually was, purely to squeeze more money out of him. My dad didn't bite; instead, he took Mom to a top-tier hospital in Boston where she received world-class treatment without any shady payments. After the surgery, my dad wanted to prepare expensive gifts for the doctors and nurses (you know how our mindset can be sometimes!), but his friends from Boston told him there was no way he should bring anything to a hospital because the staff would get angry and refuse to accept it.

Another example involves my grandmother's primary care physician. Whether Grandma went to the clinic for an exam or the doctor made a home visit (which happened often), Grandma would give her $67 every single time. One instance, when Grandma was feeling really unwell, she came in, but because she was in such poor shape, she wasn't able to physically take out the cash to give to her. Not long after that, we called the doctor because Grandma was feeling worse than ever (that was the day she passed away), but the doctor didn't come because she assumed Grandma wouldn't be able to pay her again in that state.
After all that, my family switched to a different doctor—someone who is truly a person of high moral character. Even though she faces significant financial struggles, she won't hear a word about gifts, let alone cash.

One particularly disgusting case of extortion involved a friend of my mother's when her child needed tonsils removed. The doctor told her, "Look, your little one is fourth on the list tomorrow, but my concentration slips after three surgeries, and I might slip with the scalpel, and then anything could happen." Once she handed over $100 at the time, the child was moved to the very top of the list.

More recently, a friend of mine had a major surgery on her gallbladder, and her family ended up shelling out a few thousand dollars just to ensure she received satisfactory treatment.

To wrap things up, there is definitely corruption in healthcare, and it absolutely needs to be rooted out. It exists heavily in other industries too, but that’s no excuse.

Benjamin Murphy2 said:Yeah, sure, I'm totally corrupt—I drive an old Korean car I've had for seven years (love it, by the way) and I've got a mortgage that'll last me until retirement. Since I have no idea what to do with all this cash from blue envelopes, I just toss money out my window at five o'clock every day. Come and get it!

Can we please stop with the "everyone is doing it" nonsense? Just look at the economy and the government and tell me where the real corruption is. Sure, there's some shady stuff with doctors, but it's not everywhere, regardless of what the news says. And just try getting a building permit without greasing some palms. 😠

First off, nobody is saying everyone is dirty. We aren't generalizing or accusing every single one of you. But you definitely are.
A contractor or someone working in local government could easily fire back with:
"Oh yeah, I'm incredibly corrupt—I've been driving the same Korean car for seven years (it's great!) and I'm paying off a house for the rest of my life. I don't know what to do with all this bribe money, so I just throw it out the window every afternoon. Come grab it!"

Stop with the mass hysteria! Look at the hospitals and the doctors and tell me who's actually more crooked. There's obviously corruption in big business and administration, but it isn't systemic, no matter how much the media screams about it. Try getting medical treatment without paying under the table. 😠"

rapidheron said:If you've got evidence that solid, why aren't you heading straight to the FBI? What are you waiting for? Just venting on a forum isn't exactly getting things done.

I didn't actually see it happen myself.

My mom is basically getting paid in kind! 😬
Eggs, sausage, baby chicks—plus bits of lamb here and there, flowers, coffee, boxes of chocolates, even an entire stalk of orchids (you know, those pricey ones...) 😁
Some lady mentioned to me that this doesn't actually count as "bribery"... is she right, or what? $167

Lawrence Wells said:Man, my buddy told me the exact same thing after he finished med school! We all have to mentally brace ourselves for the day the news starts dragging us through the mud. It’s a shame, but you’ve got those corrupt types who only went into medicine to bleed poor people dry during these tough times... 🙄

1. I've gone through a ton of articles on this latest case. Honestly, not a single person—not even one sentence—attacks the whole profession or other doctors, aside from Smith and the suspicion that some members of that specialist's immediate team might be involved in the criminal activity.
I really don't get why you feel targeted.
Plus, it's being reported that a lot of doctors actually felt relieved by the news.

2. If you're still reading this as an attack on your profession or yourself personally, then who do you actually hold responsible? Your colleagues or the patients who were harmed?
Is it your colleagues, or the journalists who (in my opinion) are reporting fairly and professionally?
Are the culprits those specific individuals (who, if you ask me, are plenty) or just a "fired up" public that's fed up with poverty, crime, and seeing their hard-earned money squeezed out of them?

I think the answer is right there in your last sentence.
So, are you defending yourself (I get the feeling you are) in your own name, on behalf of the medical profession, or for Dr. Smith?

3. You seem to think you doctors are the main targets for the country's economic, social, and legal issues. To make you feel better, judges, lawyers, cops, soldiers, professors, and government workers all feel the same way... they all think they're the bottom of the barrel and the permanent target for public outcry.
And honestly, everyone's at fault here.
Because of a few bad apples within the system, all of you as a profession are open to criticism.
Instead of distancing yourselves from certain colleagues and joining the public in condemning these criminal acts and criminals, you're acting like you're under siege and need to fight back.
I just don't get it.

Look, I’m not looking for an argument here... but it seems like nobody ever bothers to mention when a doctor actually does something right—not that it's any different for other professions, really. Take Smith, for instance. Just how many lives has that man actually saved?

Of course, nobody stops to consider that. It's much easier to just tear someone down...

It’s honestly just wild to even bring up Smith's "good" qualities right now

Well, that settles it... he’s just one of those people enrolling in med school specifically to fleece the poor, as someone once put it. There are plenty more like him out there—just wait a few years, and you’ll have a massive selection to choose from. 😉

agnessa said:I'm telling you again... Not everyone is corrupt, and for me, "generally" speaking, it’s definitely not more than 20%... (maybe!). If you pour 20% wine into a glass and fill the rest with water, would you really say you're drinking pure wine?!
PS. I'm not a doctor and have nothing to do with the medical field (except for my dear husband who is a doctor, though not here in the US), but I really can't stand these unserious posts.

Your post is what's unserious, and that comparison? Totally silly!
I never said that if twenty or more doctors are corrupt, it means absolutely everyone is (like your 20% wine analogy implies).
I just meant they are clearly corrupt—meaning there's actually plenty of wine in that glass.

Noah Vaughn3 said:my mom gets kickbacks! 😬
eggs, sausages, chickens, some lamb here and there, flowers, coffee, gift boxes, even a whole bunch of those pricey orchids... 😁
some lady told me that until $167 it's not a bribe.. is that actually true?

Man, we sure are proud of Mom 😢

like up to $17 it isn't a bribe.

Just imagine $167 from every single patient, and you see about 30 of them that day.
That little change you're joking about is like 15 $0.00 a day.
Multiply that by 25 and you're looking at over 300,000 a month.
Maybe that doesn't sound like much to you or your mom, but for her patients? It's insane.
Some of them (and I bet they aren't any less smart or educated) won't make that much in their entire lives!

I was reading the news today—not saying it’s gospel, obviously—but apparently doctors and staff have gone totally extreme and are refusing all gifts lately. (As if they even need them, right?).
They’re turning down even the "small" stuff, like bottles of top-shelf liquor.
Just today at the Mayo Clinic, they reportedly turned away over 50 of those little gestures.
And let's talk about those spirits; we're looking at a value of at least $50 per bottle. Multiply that by 50 and you're sitting on $167.
How many doctors were even there?
Maybe ten at most today. That breaks down to $250 per person.
Honestly, that's a massive windfall if you ask me.
If they weren't getting a paycheck or any kickbacks, they could live pretty damn well just off those tips alone (and I mean "well" compared to most people, including folks who don't have their level of education, workload, or responsibility).

Noah Vaughn3, some people actually went through all that medical school bullshit... there is seriously zero point in trying to defend Smith. Honestly, I bet even your mommy would be on board with this one