(Image Source: Faithful Progressive Blog)

BY TARA GRIMES

You're watching multisource politics video news analysis from Newsy.

Playing hooky isn’t anything new. Kids try to do it every day. But amidst protests to Wisconsin’s proposed union laws, adults are getting forged notes to miss work- and it’s a little more serious than forging mom’s signature.

The University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health is investigating whether some of its doctors have been writing fake doctors notes for those protesting at the Wisconsin state capitol. Fox News first broke the news after seeing this tape from the MacIver Institute.

WOMAN HOLDING SIGN: “If you need a doctor’s note for work there are doctors on the corner signing notes.”
WOMAN: “So these are sick notes for work that people can have excuses for work.”
SUPPOSED DOCTOR: “We’re a group of doctors that are representing ourselves, not necessarily our work places, providing work excuses for teachers or other union members who need them.”   

Fox News’ Geraldo Rivera aired more video on his show, showing one of Fox’s producers getting a sick note. He called it a “gotcha” video. He also spoke with a reporter on the scene.

GERALDO RIVERA: “How big, Mike, is this fraud?”
MIKE TOBIN, FOX NEWS REPORTER :“Well it seems like there’s a lot of these notes going around. The doctor we taped was not the only one hanging out handing out the sick day notes.”

As news outlets explode with this story, it has many asking, is it just a politically motivated tactic from the right wing? A blogger for Crooks And Liars seems to think so.

“So isn't it interesting that a right-wing organization would produce a news report saying such excuses are fabricated? Usually, the way this works is that part of the final negotiation also forgives the days missed for protests, by the way, so this is ginned up nonsense from the start.”

Blog News Hounds says it “smelled a rat” when Fox air the story. The blog says, “it got even smellier when two anti-union women, who weren't teachers, claimed that they went up to a ‘doctor’ and got these notes.” After pointing out the MacIver Institue is right winged, they go on to say the videographer featured in the video is friends with Andrew Breitbart, the man involved with the undercover investigation video Teachers Unions Gone Wild and the ACORN videos.” One more thing News Hounds says,    

“The name that I saw, on the doctor's "excuse," was Kathy Orton. I could find no Kathy Orton listed as a Wisconsin doctor.”

Some really do believe the issue is happening, and aside from the political aspect, they are viewing it from a moral angle.  The Atlantic Blogger Ford Vox says he’s able to identify with some of the physicians in the video and like many others, sees the consequences they could face in the near future.

“They've managed to belittle a public trust between physicians, employers and patients. A doctor's sick note is a serious document. It represents an employer's desire to verify through a respected, independent, medically qualified third party the fact of an illness and the true need for convalescence.”

News outlets around the Wisconsin state capitol report the issue is going on and that physicians say they are acting on their own, outside of any hospitals or organizations.
 

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