Isle chiropractors,
irked by disclaimer,
sue HawTel

They're asking for
unspecified damages

By Craig Gima
Star-Bulletin

Honolulu chiropractors are in pain over their ads in the GTE Hawaiian Tel Yellow Pages.

Now they're asking for relief from their suffering through a Circuit Court lawsuit that seeks an unspecified amount of damages from GTE Hawaiian Tel and a sister company that publishes the Yellow Pages.

"GTE for some reason placed a notice on every page of the chiropractic doctors Yellow Pages," said Roy Bell, attorney for the chiropractors.

"It is a statement of warning. The problem is that the statement purported to be Hawaii law is not Hawaii law at all and none of the doctors were told the ad was going to be placed on their pages. GTE has singled out chiropractic doctors for this notice, and it's not anywhere else," Bell said.

The notice begins: "Making a false or fraudulent workers' compensation claim is a felony subject to up to five years in prison or a fine of up to $50,000."

Bell said the notice suggests chiropractors are somehow unethical or not to be trusted.

"Attorneys who handle worker's compensation claims -- there's no notice on their pages. Acupuncturists or physical therapists -- there's nothing there either," Bell said.

Eugene Kitts of the Newtown Chiropractic and Naturopathic Clinic said he pays $3,000 a month for his ad in the Yellow Pages and that "This is adding insult to injury." He said chiropractors already are seeing a decrease in business because of new laws that limit the number of visits paid for under worker's compensation and no fault insurance claims.

"I told them (GTE) I wanted them to make a public apology because the damage has been done," he said. He said he received an apology letter from GTE, but the company has not explained how or why the notice appeared next to the chiropractor ads.

"If you make a mistake you'd better change it. I see no effort on their part to make a change," he said. "We're the ones who are going to be suffering for this for a whole year now."

Bell said the notice in the Yellow Pages does not mention that it is a crime in Hawaii to falsely deny a worker's compensation claim. He said the law only allows for a fine of up to $10,000, not $50,000 as stated in the notice. "I don't think you can put Hawaii law into a brief and make it meaningful," he said.

GTE Hawaiian Tel spokesman Keith Kamisugi said last night the company officials who could answer questions about the Yellow Pages are in California and could not be reached for comment.

The 1998-1999 Yellow Pages contain a number of notices scattered throughout the book.

A notice for building contractors notes that Hawaii law prohibits persons or companies from offering or performing contractor's work without a license.