is it illegal to forge sick notes/medical notes that excuse people
from work? i.e. if a person takes a fake letter from a doctor into
work to prove he was ill when he really was not?

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Clarification of Question by john99-ga on 04 Nov 2005 06:41 PST

I live in the UK, and was considering setting up a website to provide
"sick notes" which excused workers/students from work they may have
missed.  to ensure they did not use these notes to gain sick benefits
from long term leave - i only provide notes which say the client was
absent from work/school for max of 3 days. the notes appear to come
from a doctor - however it is a fictional doctor and not a copy of an
actually existing one. the employee however IS fooled into thinking
that it has been written by a doctor/MD

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Clarification of Question by john99-ga on 04 Nov 2005 07:14 PST

most of my sales occur in the usa, so its there where i'd like to know
if i can get into trouble supplying fake doctors notes to us citizens

As long as you don't use the name of a real person that is a Doctor,
it's *probably* not illegal, however, if your employer catches you,
you'll most likely get fired.

It depends on which country you they are located and its laws; also
whether they receive sick pay and other terms of their employment. It
could be argued that they are obtaining sick pay by criminal deception
instead of taking a day off without pay.

In addition, there are some jurisdictions, which have laws against
"pretending to be a physician".

I'm gonna strongly agree with Answerfinder that this could be
construed as fraud if the employee gets paid for being out sick. Most
laws against pretending to be a doctor are meant to prevent the
practice of medicine without a license, but the presentation of a
doctors note to get sick pay (or other benefit) would be "obtaining
money by false pretenses," a textbook definition of fraud.

Well, to avoid the perils if pretending to be a Doctor, here's a solution:

DoctorsExcuse.com
http://www.doctorsexcuse.com/
..."Licensed medical physicians are available at DoctorsExcuse.com to
save valuable time by supplying you a medical excuse online.

All that you need is access to a printer. The medical excuses are
generated from confidential information that you supply the physician.

Notes from a physician are commonly used for school or work purposes
and in certain situations for individuals that scheduled vacation
packages. Along with saving you time, we can save you money compared
to a costly ER visit. Each doctor's note costs only $14.99 (USD).

At DoctorsExcuse.com we are committed to saving you time, however you
should never use a doctor's excuse as a substitute for professional
medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment..."


This time, I think I _really_have_ seen it all...

The answer will ultimately depend on which one of the 50 states the
"sick note" is used in, as each state has it's own laws regarding
fraud, forgery and conspiracy.

tutuzdad-ga

Y'know, if the note is signed "Dr. Whoever" or whatever name you want
AND the person is actually a doctor, there is no fraud. As there are a
lot of doctor types out there other than MD's (or, as my-- and every--
Jewish mother calls them in conjunction to their daughters marrying
one, an "RD" for "Real Doctor"), who is to say it is a scam?
Veterinarians (me), pastors, English profs, even naturopathic doctors
can all sign as "Doctor."

So, fifteen bucks an excuse. Sweeeet.

As I've said before, there are just no morals any more.

Don;t think it is a question of morals, plenty of us like to have a
day off work, but with the rules and regulations we have in place
people find they have to turn to saying they have been sick. Im pretty
sure these same people are expected to work unpaid overtime to keep
bosses happy so it all evens itself out in the long run