September 2, 2024
Roundup with Confirmed NHL Diagnosis
We’re offering Roundup Claimants with a confirmed Non-Hodgkin’s Lymphoma diagnosis, and we’ve been getting great feedback from clients. Each claimant is guaranteed to have NHL and comes with proof of diagnosis.
Roundup Best Practices
We’ve been doing Roundup for several years now, and here are the best practices we follow stop Roundup fraud cold without turning away legitimate claimants.
- One way to ensure high quality is to make sure your intake agents are not incentivised/commissioned based on how many people sign up. If you’re using a third party call center, be sure to ask them if they pay agents on commission. Most intake departments pay their agents low hourly wages and then make up for it with commissions that are paid based on how many signed retainers they produce. While this makes sense economically for the company, it produces very high levels of unqualified claimants.
- A key step that is often overlooked is simply to interview the claimant thoroughly and understand the details of their story. If parts of the story aren’t clear, ask clarifying questions. The intake agent needs to be more like an interviewer or journalist looking for the truth, rather than just a script reader/note-taker.
- Ask follow up questions based on information received from the caller to extend the story and make certain it is clear and complete. Talk to them in depth about the location they purchased the product, how often they used it, for how many years they used it and for what purpose.
- Decline people who can’t give a clear location where they purchased and used the product. Also grounds for DQ is a usage story that misunderstands what Roundup is and what it is used for. For example, characterization of the product as a “pesticide” is suspicious. If they purchase it from a chain store, ask them to specify the location of the store where they bought it.
- Verify their medical situation by getting the story behind how they went from symptoms to diagnosis to treatment. Ask what the current status of their treatment is. Cancer is a lifelong condition, even if it is in remission. Legitimate claimants will know this. If someone claims their cancer has been gone for 20 years and they don’t get any check ups for it, this would not be credible. NHL is a treatable disease and it is possible to find people alive decades after diagnosis, but it is a serious disease and you should expect that they’ve received treatment and are receiving regular followup screenings.
- Oftentimes, we will ask for documentation of their Non-Hodgkin’s Lymphoma diagnosis and their treatment. While it is not reasonable to expect them to have full medical records on hand, they should be able to show something that backs up their story: a prescription bottle, insurance paperwork, medical bills, etc. People who have been through a serious illness nearly always can show something.
- Verify their identity using a service such as BeenVerified or Transunion. It’s remarkable how few intake companies complete a simple instant verification of the social security number and date of birth. It’s easy to do and will make pulling medical records that much easier for the law firm.
- Finally, you can simply ask them if they’re being truthful or if they might have exaggerated anything and if they’re confident in the information provided. While this can be awkward, honest claimants do not mind.
In part 2 of our Roundup Special Report, we will share comments from our Fulfillment Department on key points used in weeding out Roundup fraud, along with a detailed list of NHL sub types.
Craig H. Alinder, Vice President