Mayor seeks records on firefighters' physicians

Menino on lookout for suspicious trends

Mayor Thomas M. Menino ordered the Boston Fire Department yesterday to dig through its records in a hunt for doctors who have diagnosed large numbers of city firefighters with work-related injuries, increasing scrutiny on the role physicians play in awarding questionable disability pensions.

The mayor's office said Menino is seeking to unearth suspicious patterns in which some physicians may have "disproportionately diagnosed disabilities."

His call is part of a larger effort by city officials to end claims like that of Firefighter Albert Arroyo, who competed in a professional bodybuilding competition two weeks after a Dorchester doctor said he was permanently disabled and deserving of a disability pension.

"The mayor believes this is absolutely unacceptable and wrong that people would misuse or breach the public trust and essentially steal taxpayer dollars," said Menino's spokeswoman, Dorothy Joyce. "He will continue to push for reforms in the Fire Department that will put an end to these types of abuses."

Menino also called on state retirement officials to reexamine all disability claims from retired Boston firefighters who were diagnosed by Arroyo's neurologist, Dr. John F. Mahoney.

The Globe reported yesterday that of 25 Boston firefighters Mahoney treated who were seeking accidental disability pensions since 2001, 21 are collecting pensions worth 72 percent of their salaries, tax-free for life. The other four are awaiting approval of their pensions, collecting 100 percent of their salaries, tax-free, in the meantime.

Mahoney did not return messages left at his homes yesterday in Quincy and Pocassett. He told the Globe last week that he had no idea Arroyo was a bodybuilder and that he felt "foolish" and worried his practice would be ruined.

Arroyo, meanwhile, failed to comply with an order from Fire Commissioner Roderick J. Fraser Jr. to return to work yesterday. Arroyo, 46, an inspector with the department's Fire Prevention Division, did not show up for his assigned shift at 7 a.m., fire officials said. The department is no longer paying Arroyo and could begin termination proceedings against him if he doesn't come to work in the next two weeks.

Arroyo's lawyer, James S. Dilday, did not answer calls seeking comment yesterday, and his telephone would not accept messages.

A federal grand jury is investigating suspicious claims by dozens of current and former Boston firefighters. FBI investigators issued a flurry of subpoenas to firefighters and city agencies earlier this year.

The investigation was sparked by a Globe report in January that showed that 74 percent of all Boston firefighter retirements between 2005 and 2007 were based on accidental disability claims, more than double the rate of similarly sized cities.

Arroyo reported that he slipped on a staircase and injured his back at the Jamaica Plain fire station on March 21, an accident that no one witnessed in a station where he was not assigned to work. In April, Mahoney wrote that the back injury was so severe that Arroyo was "permanently and totally disabled."

Just two weeks later, on May 3, Arroyo won eighth place in a national professional bodybuilding competition. A video of the event shows Arroyo flexing what appear to be well-developed back muscles.

The fire commissioner ordered him back to work after seeing the video. On the mayor's orders, Fraser has now instructed his staff to begin sifting through dozens of firefighters' medical records and making note of doctors who frequently have vouched for firefighter disabilities. Of particular concern are firefighters whose reported injuries occurred while they were on desk duty or during other low-impact activities, Fraser said.

Currently, 182 of the department's 1,557 firefighters are out on injured leave. Of those, 96 have been diagnosed with permanently disabling injuries and are seeking disability retirements.

"What we want to do is take a look at doctors," Fraser said. "Are there a few doctors who seem to be go-to guys for disability claims?"

Officials in the Menino administration are sending a letter to the state Public Employee Retirement Administration Commission, which monitors and regulates the 106 public pension systems in Massachusetts, seeking a review of all cases in which Mahoney was the doctor.

No one at the commission could be reached last night for comment.

Donovan Slack can be reached at dslack@globe.com.