Accidentally,
on Purpose : The Making of a Personal Injury Underworld in America
by Ken Dornstein |
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Hardcover
Published by St Martins Pr (Trade)
Publication date: December 1996
Dimensions (in inches): 1.37 x 9.50 x 6.40
ISBN: 0312129920
From Kirkus Reviews , 10/15/96:
This thoroughgoing, even encyclopedic, history of insurance fraud in America is a
first-rate, ripping yarn. With its machines and speed and bustle, the Industrial
Revolution saw a horrendous rise in accident rates. Train wrecks, street-car collisions,
the dangerous chaos of the city, all spawned an almost endless series of mishaps. As
Dornstein (a young, former private investigator specializing in insurance scams) ably
demonstrates, it wasn't a far step from genuine accidents to the emergence of increasingly
sophisticated and outrageous fakery--the money was just too good. He presents a Damon
Ruyonesque cast of colorful rascals, from apple-peel specialists (dropping fruit peels and
slipping profitably) to floppers, tumblers, and whiplashers. To make claimed injuries even
more convincing, there were always ``Houses of Pain,'' where specialists would add
bruising, scraping verisimilitude to a hustle. By the turn of the century, faking injuries
was a big and professional business. At the bottom of the rung were the ``victims,'' often
recent immigrants eager for a few extra dollars. Above them were the cappers, who arranged
and packaged the cases and brought them to corrupt doctors and lawyers. While enforcement,
particularly undercover investigation, has been stepped up in recent years, this
underground system still generates billions of dollars in fraudulent insurance claims
every year. Dornstein believes insurance companies should shoulder some of the blame;
their aggressive marketing of new types of insurance policies (life insurance was once
unheard of) created opportunities for fraud and reinforced the idea that someone should
always be held financially responsible for accidents. And if payouts got too expensive, it
was easy enough to raise premiums. Given the importance of the insurance industry to his
history, Dornstein doesn't give it sufficient depth and due, the only significant
oversight in this otherwise magnificently complete compendium. A bright spotlight cast on
some very murky doings. (b&w illustrations) -- Copyright ©1996, Kirkus Associates,
LP. All rights reserved.
- Table of Contents
Acknowledgments
Prologue: Who Killed Jose Luis Lopez Perez? An Unsentimental
Education
Introduction: Prelude to a Fall
1. The Rise (And Frequent Falls) of the American Accident Faker
2. Accident Racketeers on the Streets of the City
3. The Nationwide War on Ambulance Chasers
4. Inside the House of Pain
5. Whiplash Culture
6. The Friends of the Friendless
7. El Toro y La Vaca
8. Mapping the Underworld
Epilogue: Who Killed Jose Luis Lopez Perez? - The Making of a
Personal Injury Underworld in America
Notes
Index
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