An editorial from The Herald-Dispatch
HUNTINGTON, W.Va. — It’s been more than three-and-a-half years since questions about the handling of disability cases in the Huntington Social Security office first came to public light, but a federal investigation into the allegations has so far yielded precious little.
Even though millions of taxpayers’ dollars may have been fraudulently handed out, no one has been charged with any crimes in relation to the allegations. And it’s not clear from the government whether anyone is seriously pursuing the case any further.
Based on what a Congressional report and hearings from more than a year ago turned up, there seems to be considerable evidence that more needs to be done.
The allegations are centered on Social Security disability cases handled out of the Huntington office over a period of years and the relationship between then-Social Security administrative law judge David B. Daugherty and Kentucky attorney Eric C. Conn. Congressional investigators in October 2013 and again in June 2014 alleged Daugherty assigned himself cases and awarded benefits to hundreds of applicants without justification, while Conn relied upon medical experts who provided false or fraudulent testimony to justify Daugherty’s decisions. The cases linked to Daugherty yielded Conn about $4.5 million between 2006 and 2010, congressional investigators said. During the period, Daugherty had one of the nation’s highest rate of handling cases, and he approved benefits nearly 100 percent of the time…
