What do you hate most about miami? (Ocala, Memphis: schools, to live)

[jpugz]

Miami is growing like crazy and with it comes all the "big city problems" as well but this city definitely seems to attract every crooked sleazy opportunistic leech from other cities and countries as well create its own. These people will use others and use unethical and - sometimes illegal - methods to get what they want but for them their behaviors are perfectly "natural." You definitely have to be wary of people here and their real intentions.

[Glasvegas]

Originally Posted by jpugz

Miami is growing like crazy and with it comes all the "big city problems" as well but this city definitely seems to attract every crooked sleazy opportunistic leech from other cities and countries as well create its own. These people will use others and use unethical and - sometimes illegal - methods to get what they want but for them their behaviors are perfectly "natural." You definitely have to be wary of people here and their real intentions.

Great post. It's true -- you really have to be on your guard here, more so than other places. Even finding (and trusting) a doctor is tougher here. There is a lot of Medicare fraud and therefore a lot of crooked doctors. Beware of animal clinics, mechanics, realtors and others. Also, when it comes to making friends in Miami, be on your guard for people who will flat out take advantage of you without shame.

I am not trying to be cynical here, rather just offering advice that may help Miami newbies from falling into certain traps, or being ripped off and used for something.

If you accept and understand the nature of the beast known as Miami, you can enjoy the place, as long as the positives outweigh the negatives. Miami is very different from other US cities and is not for everyone.

[jbub22]

The beautiful women! I wish they were with me, in the cold.

[popcorn247]

Originally Posted by Glasvegas

Great post. It's true -- you really have to be on your guard here, more so than other places. Even finding (and trusting) a doctor is tougher here. There is a lot of Medicare fraud and therefore a lot of crooked doctors. Beware of animal clinics, mechanics, realtors and others. Also, when it comes to making friends in Miami, be on your guard for people who will flat out take advantage of you without shame.

I am not trying to be cynical here, rather just offering advice that may help Miami newbies from falling into certain traps, or being ripped off and used for something.

If you accept and understand the nature of the beast known as Miami, you can enjoy the place, as long as the positives outweigh the negatives. Miami is very different from other US cities and is not for everyone.

Both of you had great posts! Well said!

[Wild Style]

Originally Posted by Glasvegas

Great post. It's true -- you really have to be on your guard here, more so than other places. Even finding (and trusting) a doctor is tougher here. There is a lot of Medicare fraud and therefore a lot of crooked doctors. Beware of animal clinics, mechanics, realtors and others. Also, when it comes to making friends in Miami, be on your guard for people who will flat out take advantage of you without shame.

I am not trying to be cynical here, rather just offering advice that may help Miami newbies from falling into certain traps, or being ripped off and used for something.

If you accept and understand the nature of the beast known as Miami, you can enjoy the place, as long as the positives outweigh the negatives. Miami is very different from other US cities and is not for everyone.

ohhh poo, whats a little medicare fraud amongst neighbors?! Speaking of that, my wife went to a doctor. Then gets a statement from her insurance company. On it the statement said, urine analysis, blood work, MRI. NONE of which my wife had done. So my wife called her insurance and told them to refute the charges.

[StilltheSame]

Miami is the only place I know where it is not uncommon for a raid of a "doctor" or "dentist" operating out of his/her garage. Granted - they were a doctor or dentist in their "own country." I just cannot understand it.

[Schrodinger's Kittens]

Originally Posted by StilltheSame

Miami is the only place I know where it is not uncommon for a raid of a "doctor" or "dentist" operating out of his/her garage. Granted - they were a doctor or dentist in their "own country." I just cannot understand it.

StS--
When I first moved to Miami I drove past a billboard that said "Unlicensed medical activity is a danger and a crime" and had a number to call. I had never lived somewhere where that was even an issue.

But with respect to illegal clinics run by people who were doctors in their home country, they set up shop in a neighborhood of people from their country. When people get sick they see him/her because many things that you need a prescription for in the US you can get OTC in Central/South America. Being uninsured can put the cost of an American doctor and antibiotics from the pharmacy beyond the budgets of many people. So you go see the local guy. His friends/relatives back home send him boxes of commonly-used pills and he gives the patient a week's worth of antibiotics for a few bucks, which they're more likely to able to afford. That's the rationale, but it's still wrong and illegal.

Also, the really scary ones are the "plastic surgeons" that have a few syringes and a drum of industrial-grade liquid silicone. I can't imagine why anyone would go that route; cosmetic surgery is definitely one of those things where you get what you pay for.

[StilltheSame]

S Kittens - I can understand the doctor for illness and that is understandable
BUT a dentist?? Hell no. Have you ever seen some of these places- thats just crazy - and the plastic surgeons - WTH?

[Schrodinger's Kittens]

Originally Posted by StilltheSame

BUT a dentist?? Hell no. Have you ever seen some of these places- thats just crazy - and the plastic surgeons - WTH?

I've seen police video from the unlicensed practitioner units busting illegal "dentists"--the one that stays in my mind is a chair in a garage with cockroaches everywhere and the dental tools laid out ready for use in a malfunctioning autoclave that's got mold inside. That's the stuff of nightmares.

Living in South Florida has made me an educated medical consumer--I look up a potential new doctor's record with the state and then I research their certifications to see if they had to show some sort of competence like passing a test or putting in a certain number of hours in a skill to get that cert, or if it's just a "pay us a fee and you're certified" credential.

[jpugz]

I based my post on personal experience. I have two elderly parents on Medicare and I have lost count how many times I had to call Medicare Fraud line to report fraudulant excessive billing for procedures and services that never occured from various healthcare "professionals" meaning primary doctors, specialists, dentists and labs in Miami.Whether is was the doctors themselves, the office staff and/or the billing company or all the above - fraud happened. I am Hispanic and its embarassing that the majority of these crooks - once found - happen to be Hispanic. I definitely agree, in Miami, you have to research everything including doctor backgrounds.
I lived in other cities and Miami is definitely a different animal - the city has a lot of positives but some of the people - and their actions - ruin it all. In this city, you have to take very seriously the saying that "if something sounds too good to be true, it is!"