Dear Dr. Lee Hartner,

Who hurt you?

It might seem like pure snark to ask you that question, but I am one hundred percent sincere. Ever since I received a copy of the report you wrote to support Lincoln Financial Group’s cancellation of my long-term disability claim, I’ve been asking myself, “Why would someone—a doctor no less—do this?” And the thing I keep coming back to is this adage:

Hurt people hurt people.

(It’s trite, for sure. But if you take the time to unpack them, you’ll find sayings like this apply in a lot of circumstances. That’s how clever little baby sayings grow up to be cliches, after all. )

In my ongoing quest to hold Lincoln Financial Group and its “experts” accountable for being greedy, disingenuous shitstains on an otherwise flawless healthcare sys—Bah! I can’t keep a straight face.

Ahem. What I was saying is that a friend graciously offered to help me research the key players in this nightmare of mine, including Lincoln Financial Group, Professional Disability Associates, Reliable Review Services, Dr. Brian Samuels, and you. And so far, your name has turned up in a handful of lawsuits from the last decade where a long-term disability insurer is named as the Defendant and you are their “expert” reviewer. In addition to Reliable Review Services, you have contracted with mcmc, and MES Solutions.

That. We. Know. Of.

There’s this 2011 court filing where a leukemia patient sued Hartford Life and Accident Insurance Company.

Then this one from 2010 in which a patient with Multicentric Castleman Disease sues Coventry Healthcare of Nebraska.

And this one from 2016 where MetLife retained you as an “Independent Physician Consultant” in a case against Babcock & Wilcox Technical Services, LLC Long Term Disability Plan.

I literally read this line from that last filing with my mouth gaping open:

“Dr. Hartner, however, again concluded that Mr. Smith is not totally disabled, despite conceding that he is ‘not qualified to assess whether [Mr. Smith’s anxiety] results in any restriction or limitation as that is outside the purview of my specialty.'”

At this point, all I can do is assume that you’re one of those sick fucks that just really likes doing this sort of thing to disabled people.

So I ask again, Dr. Lee Hartner. Who hurt you? Why are you like this?

Sincerely,
Emily Suess

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