Home -> Law Blog Directory -> Legal News Blogs -> Legal Blog Watch

Legal News

: Legal Blog Watch

From the Bad Ideas File: Lying About Having Cancer

By Bruce Carton

For so many reasons, it is a terrible idea to falsely claim that you have cancer in an effort to gain a benefit or avoid trouble. I first saw this a few years ago when Howard P. Richman, a biotech executive, told a federal judge that he could not defend the case filed against him by the SEC because he was gravely ill from colon cancer. In support of this story, Richman: submitted a letter to the court from a [phony] doctor stating his treatment included surgery and chemotherapy; told the court later through his attorneys that the cancer had spread; and finally told the court in July 2007 that the cancer had worsened and that he now had an 8 percent to 15 percent chance of survival. His Stage III colon-rectal cancer, he said, had ?spread to his stomach and invaded his abdominal cavity.? Well, it turned out that Richman never had cancer, and the whole story was a sham. Last year, Richman admitted he had lied about the cancer and pleaded guilty to a count of obstruction of justice. In October 2009, Richman was sentenced to 3 years in prison. (On the bright side, I guess, he is...

Full post as published by Legal Blog Watch on September 27, 2010 (boomark / email).