Workers’ Comp Probe Hits 40 Medical Offices : Insurance: Fraud investigators focus on a widely advertised Southland referral service.

Government investigators served search warrants on more than 40 medical offices in Southern California as part of a probe focusing on a widely advertised workers’ compensation referral service called the Injury Hotline, authorities said Wednesday.

The operation was touted as part of a major investigation by agencies including the Los Angeles district attorney’s office, the California Department of Insurance and the FBI into suspected fraud in the state’s $12-billion workers’ compensation system.

No arrests were made, however, in connection with the probe of the Injury Hotline and the physicians to whom it refers patients.

Critics of California’s system maintain that referral services for doctors and lawyers play a major role in the rampant abuse of the workers’ compensation program.

The critics charge that some services encourage workers to commit insurance fraud by claiming compensation for nonexistent injuries or for medical problems that don’t stem from the workplace.

The Injury Hotline and other referral services typically rely on heavy television, radio, newspaper and billboard advertising and offer toll-free phone numbers to attract consumers. In turn, these services direct consumers to workers’ compensation doctors and lawyers to pursue insurance claims.

Authorities said five locations of the Injury Hotline were searched this week, along with the Bel-Air home of owner Linda Jene Wakelin. Neither Wakelin nor other officials of the Injury Hotline--which also does business as the Worker Injury Hotline and Medical Media--could be reached.

The team of more than 200 government investigators also seized records at the offices of chiropractors, psychiatrists and other physicians in Los Angeles, Orange and Riverside counties, according to a news release from Los Angeles County Dist. Atty. Ira Reiner. At one location alone, about 60,000 files were seized.

One of the locations searched was the headquarters of Primedex Corp., a Culver City firm that manages a string of medical clinics. On Tuesday and Wednesday, investigators from the Los Angeles district attorney’s office barred employees from the company’s offices in the Metropolitan Plaza Building behind the Fox Hills Mall.

A sheet of computer paper taped to the second-floor office door read: “This office is closed to employees--FBI and DA’s.”

A security guard at the building said that on Tuesday, investigators “were escorting employees out and questioning them. It’s a terrible thing to do during the holidays.”

A spokesman for Primedex, Steven Anreder, said investigators have not indicated whether the company is a target of the investigation. “Whatever they’re looking at, we’re cooperating fully, and the company believes that it’s done nothing improper,” Anreder said.

He said Primedex will reopen its headquarters today.

Times staff writer Bernice Hirabayashi contributed to this story.