The operators of a booth which sold custom orthotics at the BMO Centre during the 2014 Calgary Stampede are being questioned after a customer discovered the medical expert listed on his paperwork had no affiliation with the business.
CTV Calgary photographer Chad purchased a pair of custom orthotics from Complete Family-Med Orthotics during the Greatest Outdoor Show on Earth in the hope the shoe inserts would help relieve the back strain he suffers during a job which requires a significant amount of walking while carrying a camera, a tripod and additional gear.
Chad purchased the footwear for $500, a price he considered hefty, but he was assured by the salesperson that he would be reimbursed if he filed the supplied forms with his insurance company. Complete Family-Med Orthotics gave Chad two forms, including a prescription for his orthotics, which his family doctor would need to sign.
Chad contacted the medical office listed on the form but was alarmed to discover the doctor named on the paperwork, Dr. John Slade, had no previous dealings with Complete Family-Med Orthotics.
“Now I'm questioning if I should even be using this product or if it'll do damage to my feet and back,” said Chad. “I don't know if these people are doctors or if they even know what they're doing.”
A confused Chad attempted to contact Lynne Hoff, the owner of Complete Family-Med Orthotics. Hoff responded to Chad’s messages with a voicemail explanation for the mistake on the form.
"My staff accidentally copied an old insurance letter,” said Hoff in the voicemail message left on Chad’s phone. “We ran out of our new forms, there must have been one on file somewhere. Anyway, we should not have given you a letter with Dr. John Slade.”
Consumer Watch reporter Lea Williams-Doherty, a colleague of Chad’s, contacted Dr. Slade in an attempt to discover how his name ended up on the prescription paperwork which was supplied to customers during the Stampede.
Dr. Slade indicated he had discussed the possibility of supervising Complete Family-Med’s orthotics program several years ago, but an agreement between the two parties was not reached.
Lea called Complete Family-Med for clarification on the relationship between the doctor and the company, and why Dr. Slade’s name appeared on the company’s insurance forms.
“I’m sorry, I have no comment,” said Lynne Hoff. “I know you’re (CTV is) not gonna tell the truth and Dr. Slade is mistaken.”
Since Lea Williams-Doherty began her investigation into Complete Family-Med, the company has removed all references to Dr. Slade from their website.
Kurt Kadatz, a Calgary Stampede spokesperson, says all vendors are screened before they are permitted to sell their wares on the floor of the BMO Centre.
“With any first time vendors, we would do reference checks with previous exhibitions or fairs these folks might have been attending,” said Kadatz.
Kadatz adds Complete Family-Med has been a vendor at the Calgary Stampede for a number of years and the Stampede has received no prior complaints about the organization.
Podiatrists, or chiropodists, are not medical doctors and, as such, are not regulated by the Alberta College of Physicians and Surgeons. The licensing body for podiatrists is the College of Podiatric Physicians of Alberta.
With files from CTV's Lea Williams-Doherty
