*  Re UnumProvident (or FirstUnum) insurance co.
*  Recently, an MD/underwriter for Unum became a WhistleBlower,
claiming he was retained to deny claims.
*  Details appeared in Tennessee (Chattanooga?) newspapers, possible
elsewhere.
*  Interested in reprint & any other relevant details.  
*  Also, a medical director resigned, claiming excessive pressure to
deny claims

Hello donnabuonauguri-ga,

Thank you for your question.

The results of my search are the following:

Here is an article I found on the Chattanoogan Website.
“Former Medical Director Suing UnumProvident on Claims” 
“The former medical director at UnumProvident is suing the insurance
firm alleging that medical personnel were encouraged to deny
disability claims. Patrick Fergal McSharry is asking compensatory and
punitive damages in the suit in Hamilton County Circuit Court.” The
complete article is available at the link below. (Posted July 3, 2002)
Chattanoogan Website
http://www.chattanoogan.com/articles/article_23683.asp


Insure.com article provides more details about UnumProvidents denials
of disability claims in their article:
“Doctor sues UnumProvident for encouraging him to deny disability
claims. A former medical director of UnumProvident is suing his former
employer, alleging that the insurer encouraged him to help deny
disability claims — and then fired him when he didn't.
It was [UnumProvident's] primary purpose and policy to deny disability
claims." The lawsuit was filed June 28, 2002, on behalf of Dr. Patrick
F. McSharry of Tennessee in Hamilton County Circuit Court. It alleges
that "although [UnumProvident] employed various medical doctors for
the ostensible purpose of providing needed medical guidance in
reaching benefit decisions, the medical personnel were not truly
utilized for that purpose. It was [UnumProvident's] primary purpose
and policy to deny disability claims."
The complete article is available at the link below. (July 2002)
The Insure.com Website
http://www.insure.com/health/unumsuit702.html


I thought you might find this interesting. A  Securities Fraud Class
Action Complaint filed in the Maine District Court against Provident.
See number 51 of this complaint regarding disability claim denials.
 “To make up for those losses, the lawsuit claims, Provident devised a
"net termination ratio" [of at least 84%] to help determine how much
in disability claims it had to deny each year to make up for the
losses. The suit alleges that Provident did several things to meet
those targets, among them developing a list of physicians it believed
would deny that a disability existed, instructing field adjusters to
avoid including recommendations or conclusions in written reports or
anything in claims files that could be used against the Company in
court, directing adjusters to "shred sensitive papers," and
establishing "roundtable" meetings to find ways to "target, terminate
and deny claims."
United States Claimant Information Bureau     
http://www.us-cib.com/cibfiles/complaint.txt


Search criteria: 

://www.google.com/search?sourceid=navclient&hl=es&querytime=wC&q=Chattanooga+Tennessee++newspapers

://www.google.com/search?sourceid=navclient&hl=es&q=UnumProvident+Corp

://www.google.com/search?q=Unumprovident+Chattanooga+&hl=es&lr=&ie=UTF-8&start=20&sa=N


I hope this provides you with the information you are seeking.

Best regards,

Bobbie7-ga