Doctor Says Insurer's Video of Disabled Man Eating Taco Chip 'Means Nothing'

Nov. 13, 2009— -- We've all heard stories of people who fake injuries in order to collect lucrative insurance benefits, and how insurance companies catch them in the act by using videotape surveillance. But critics say sometimes insurance companies go too far, by videotaping people who are truly disabled and then using that video against them, no matter how harmless the video seems.

Jack "Rocky" Whitten -- who suffers pain and memory loss as a result of a broken neck -- says his disability insurance payments from The Hartford were terminated in part because the company caught him on video eating a taco chip.

Videotape of Whitten -- captured by a private investigator hired by Whitten's insurance company -- that shows him reading a magazine, getting into a car or dipping a chip into salsa might seem innocuous, but that video helped cost Whitten and his family dearly.

The married father and grandfather broke his neck, which he had previously injured, in a fall seven years ago. Doctors declared him permanently disabled, and said he would not be able to return to work.

Dr. Roger Cicala treats Whitten, and said his patient is disabled.

"I'm absolutely sure," Cicala said. "This man has tried everything he could to get back to work."

Whitten said his vision is affected by all the medicine he takes.

"I have severe headaches," he added. "I have problems with short-term memory now."

Whitten, who'd had a well-paying job as manager of a Walmart, had planned for unforeseen hardships.

Ten years ago, he bought a disability insurance policy from The Hartford. The policy would pay him 60 percent of his salary if he ever became disabled.

After the accident, Whitten filed a claim and began receiving benefits in 2003.

But last year, a man from The Hartford came to visit Whitten and his wife Leigh at their home.

"He started asking Rocky questions concerning his limitations," Leigh Whitten recalled.