Detroit Bu ines
earn pecial a
Fo of
.Com replan
C Izen act on
By 0 se
DETRorr - Detroiters
opposed to Comerica plan,
b eked by Detroit Mayor
Co eman Young. to level Ford
Auditorium and build new
offices on the site, are planning
political ction,
Former State
Repre ent tive Edw rd
Vaughn, now leading an
organization called Detroiters
United to Save Ford
Auditorium,· p . I. around
Woman
ard
Patricia A. . Col,
pr sident of Cole
Financial Service , Inc.
ree ived the earned
de ign tion of
R gister d Prof ional
I C�n ultant (RPC) at the
id-W t Regional
Conf rene of th
Am rie.n As ociation of
Profe sional
Con ultanta. Sh is only
the second oman to
receive thl regi tration
in the Unit d State .
petition, sponsored by the
Michigan Progre ive
Democratic Organization, to
rec 11 any council member
voting for the Come rica
proposal.
Hodge Mason, President of
the Chalfonte Community
Council, said he would be
starting an initiative to prevent
the city from giving up other
public land to private
compani .
One peaker at Detroit
City Council public heariDg on
the ubject, uggested a general
consumer boycott of Comerica
itself "for coming up with such a
deal."
uality lab
sue
tate
Qualit>, Clinical
Laboratones (QLC). once
lh large t African
American owned medical
lab in orth America with
average annual les of 10
million of dollar has filed
a 120,0 0,000 lawsuit in
Fed ral Court Southeastern
Michigan, gain t the State
of Michigan Dep rtment of
Social Service. for
h rr ment and
intimidation of employees
and client who did
with
their
busi nes
operation.
Re i nald Henderson,
ncr and CEO of QLC
rates in court documents
th t offici Is from the
Michigan
Gener I
Attorney
office of
Medic id Fr ud conducted
a 1 0 Y r c m pa i g n to
di rupt II of his normal
busines rei tions ... "we
found out from discovery
tha t d uri ng th is period
Medicaid Fraud
Inv stigators earched
QCL's garbage, po cd as
meter readers: eleva tor
inspectors, nd when they
couldn t find anything.
began har ssing my
plry ician clients and
employees. "
Hender on pointed out
in 1984, Asst. AQ Edwin
Bladen sent litter to 300
of the more th n 2(),OOO
phy icians p rucipaung in
the Medicaid program
statewide, targeting them
for fraud prosecution.
Of this number, 286
re phy ician who
ref rred medical te t to his
laboratory on a regular
ba is. Physician were also
asked in the letter to. call, if
they wish to discuss thi
problem with the Fraud
Unit.
Hender on say t .. the
effects on .my business was
deva rating ... we went from
a multi-millions in gross
yearly sale to less than a
million doll rs within one
year ... we were forced to
eliminate 165 out of 200
employees previou lyon
payroll.
Henderson further
poi ntcd out, "ph ysicians
who called w r told they
need not worry because the
Medicaid Fraud Unit was
inve ligating QCL. Within
t 0 week 150 p Y icians
had completely clo ed their·
accoun is or h d stopped
sending him bu ines and
everal pby ician even
stated in depo ition they
were pecifically told by
investigators to stop doing
busine i th QCL or they
too would be subject to
Films with
WQmen's
Exhibition
$15,000.000 a. earned
from Medicaid related
services over a 10 year
pertod QCL was indicted
for $3,� ia scheme to
defraud medicaid of
s rvice ... while the Slate of
In as ociation with th
photograghic exhibition "I
Dream A World: Portrai lS
of Black Worn n Who
Changed Am rica," the
Mu cum of Afric n
Americ n Hi lory will
• pre ent two movies t the
Detroit Institute of Arts
Lecture Hall. The films are
free and open to the public.
"Sounder," tarring
Cicely Ty on, will be Iea­
tured Saturday, July 28 t 5
p.m. Thi classic film i the
story of a family of
Sharecroppers in the deep
South.
"Gotta Make This Jo r-
ney, "featuring Swe t
Honey In the Rock will b
presented Saturday, August
11 at 5 p.m. Thi 58-minute
fea ture ca pture the
spiritu Is. . calypso,
African ch nts, and
American blue of thi in­
ternationally recognized a
.- cappella inging group.
prosecution. "
"After grossing
$70,000,000 of which
Michigan has pent nearly
5 million dollars·
investig ling me and m-y
employee," H ndcrson
stated.
Today, Quality i on of
th last African American
owned lab remaining in
Michigan, mo t were shut
down by medicaid.
The Michigan Attorney
General's offic had no
comment.