Doctor, HMO sparring over parody Auburn physician’s employer given fiery feedback for his fictitious survey

AUBURN – A family physician who runs a humor magazine for doctors got into hot water over an item poking fun at HMOs.

In the latest Placebo Journal, Dr. Douglas Farrago wrote in an editorial that he had been warned to “cease and desist” after publication of the parody of a physician satisfaction survey by a fictitious HMO called “SICKNA Healthcare.”

The mock survey, using a logo similar to Philadelphia-based CIGNA’s, was signed by “W.E. Sucque” from the “Medical Thievery and Health Policy Division.”

Shortly after the item was published, Farrago said his employer, Sisters of Charity Health System Inc., alerted him that CIGNA Healthcare’s lawyers had called and inquired about getting Farrago to “cease and desist.”

The lawyers said CIGNA’s agreement with Sisters of Charity Health System, owner of St. Mary’s Regional Medical Center, bars physicians from “any false or disparaging communications which would, or are likely to, interfere with or otherwise damage any of CIGNA’s existing or potential contractual relationships.”

Lindsay Shearer, a CIGNA spokeswoman in Hooksett, N.H., said Friday the item likely offended CIGNA employees and it’s possible that someone contacted him.

“Our employees work very hard to provide very high quality service to our members, our clients, our providers. And when they see stuff like that, it upsets them,” Shearer said.

But she said there has been no formal “cease and desist” letter, and she even conceded some material in the Placebo Journal is “hilarious.”

Farrago, who launched the humor magazine in 2001, said parody is a legally protected form of free speech. The item was targeted at all HMOs, not just CIGNA, he said. “Lastly, the most important thing to me is that the parody was funny!” he wrote.

“If my hospital, who has allowed me the freedom to be creative, gets bullied to fire me over this, then it proves that HMOs are really running our health care system,” Farrago wrote in an e-mail to The Associated Press.

Farrago apparently was not backing down. His latest Placebo Journal included “A Day in the Life of an HMO Medical Director” and a parodied advertisement for a video game called “Grand Theft HMO III: Medical Request Denied.”