"Some Days, The Dragon Wins"

Over the last month or so, my friends have joked that I am finally moving into the house I've been living in since 1995.

This past week, I actually put nails in the walls in order to hang pictures. It's a fairly big step for me.

I know it sounds strange. But for the nearly-three years I worked in Asheboro, I poured myself into the work. It was my mission to build a Pediatric practice that I could be proud of, and that people/parents could trust (in stark contrast to my own experience at Randolph as a child). I had no real personal life to speak of, and I didn't pay much attention to my house . . . except to pay the mortgage and keep up the yard.

My bedroom, the den and kitchen were sparsely furnished, but the rest of the house sat empty. Books were packed away in boxes as I read them. Pottery, the fruit of many trips to my beloved Seagrove - back in the days of Archie, sat gathering dust in various corners.

Alas, everything I had worked so hard to build came to naught when the light at the end of the tunnel that was my National Health Service Corps service obligation turned out to be an oncoming train.

When RMA fired me for all of the wrong reasons, every ounce of my being & energy went into (1) subsequent litigation and (2) professional/financial survival. Blackballed for miles around, forced on the road to make ends meet, and sued for telling the government I served the truth, there was at least one time my Mama had to help me make the mortgage.

My Mama, a retired first-grade teacher, had to help her daughter, the doctor, make the mortgage. Do you have ANY idea how much THAT BURNS?

If only for that, I will chase the medically-clueless, sexist, greedy, lying management "team" of Bob Morrison and Steven Eblin to Hell and back, eat a sandwich, and do it again.

At any rate, over the last couple of years, I've finally found more of an even keel - financially, professionally and emotionally. I attribute a lot of the emotional healing to this blog . . . as I discovered a medium through which I could really let the people running Randolph Hospital (and to some degree, Asheboro) have a piece of my mind.

I could also spit in the blind eyes of the regulatory & law enforcement bodies . . . the politicians . . . and the local (totally-in-the-tank) press that ALL let me swing.

The absolutely priceless thing about it now is that there's not much any of them can do about it short of owning up and making amends (alas, these people are too stupid and arrogant to learn anything from the forced contrition of Bill Clinton - i.e. the American public will forgive just about anything if you just pony up and say you're sorry). For I've been telling the truth since day one. Where the boys at Randolph are concerned, they tried to bury it. Then they ran from it. Now, it could send some of them to jail.

Where the regulatory bodies are concerned, it could shortly put them in Court.

And I've digressed. Last year, some extra money on-hand, I turned my attention to the house - partially renovating the kitchen and painting the downstairs. The roof was also replaced (due to hail/storm damage) - although this was covered by insurance. The intent was to prepare the house to keep or to sell. It was a massive project.

One of the high-school YaYas actually lives in the house (in her own "suite" upstairs) and sits it for me while I am out-of-town. I felt sorry for her while it was all going down - as the place was a mess for a very long time.

And "Baby" Ya was not alone in her suffering. For other Yas and family members freely come and go - even in my absence - the place is rather like Grand Central Station. I got an earful - from everybody - they all had an opinion.

When the economy tanked, it made no sense to sell. And/so, once done painting, I elected to turn the living room into an office/library . . . and finally give a decent home to the nearly 100 boxes of books I've collected over the years.

An old friend from FBC custom-built the cherry bookcases (with glass doors) - which now line two walls, floor to ceiling.

If you ever need custom cabinets, take it from me . . . call Nelson Roland.

This past week, with the bookcases loaded, and with all but one piece of as-yet-to-be-delivered-furniture in place, I turned to unpacking "the office" that my parents and I had quickly packed-up eleven years ago . . . finally pulling out the diplomas and certificates and prints and nick-knaks that I had once proudly displayed as a "valued employee" at Randolph Medical Associates (RMA).

I've had no where to put them since I left.

It was rather like a bittersweet Christmas. Memories flooded back with each unwrapping . . ..compounded by the fact that the newspapers all of these things were wrapped in dated back to the darkest days of my life.

I hung my medical-school diploma from Bowman Gray on the wall in "my own little corner" of the library.

But I decided to forgo more nails in the walls and to display the rest of the certificates on top of the bookcases. I placed them all in a row - in little easels - on one wall. It actually took the entire wall . . . my North Carolina medical license . . . my American Board of Pediatrics certificate . . . my Academy of Pediatrics Fellow certificate . . . my National Health Service Corps completion-of-service certificate . . . my NCBH/Brenner's internship & residency certificate . . . my Asheboro High School and UNC-G diplomas . . . and my Phi Beta Kappa certificate.

I elected not to display the four other state medical licenses I have retired (due to cost) . . . or my N.C. Medical Society and N.C. Pediatric Society certificates (as I have resigned from both organizations . . . given that they proved fundamentally USELESS to me as advocacy organizations).

I may relent and put the at least the old Louisiana and Tennessee licenses up - as those are associated with good and/or rewarding experiences in places that I love.

Once it was all up and done, I stood back and gazed upon an entire life of soul-crushing hard work and accomplishment. And the rage . . . always simmering in the background of my day-to-day life . . . burned hotter than ever.

Just WHO IN THE HELL were Bob Morrison and Steven Eblin to think that they could do the things they did to me? What gave these corporate sewer-rats the right to lie and cheat and literally steal from a young woman who had accomplished so much (in spite of a undiagnosed learning disability no less) . . . who had come home with the goal of making things better . . . and who had done exactly what she was supposed to do . . . everything they hired her to do?

Like I've said before. I will NOT rest until these jerks are held wholly accountable for their misdeeds.

Anyone who shields them WILL be sorry.

Anyway, one of the prints I pulled out was a tiny etching I bought MANY years ago - at the first Carolina Renifest I ever attended (with Scott and Laurie Anderson). It is a cute/colorful picture of a wide-eyed, wand-wielding little fairy-princess-disguised-as-a-magician being more or less pummeled by a sweet, abeit-fire-breathing baby dragon. Her star & moon-covered cloak is smokin. And it says . . .

"Some days, the dragon wins."

The dragons have been winning for a long time. But notsomuch anymore.

For instance . . .

I am pleased that Linda Carter kept her seat on the Asheboro City Council (although in terms of integrity, she'll be in the minority - and most likely rather lonely). I think her re-election (despite the buckets full of money poured into trying to oust her) sends a very clear message to Brooke Schmidly and all of the rest of the "right people" in Asheboro that everything and everybody cannot be bought.

It also proves that "the wrong people" are waking up and watching. They want balance. They want reasonable voices and fair play.

In fact, as of right now, I think someone ought to look at our Miss Brooke's behavior during this election . . . as a member of the ABC Board (appointed by vote of the City Council) . . . and NAIL her butt to the bar on professional conduct and conflicts of interest: In other words, Brooke, when you're "serving" on a Board at the Council's pleasure, it's NOT okay to publicly target a City Council member whose primary "sins" were opposing (1) alcohol sales to begin with . . . AND (2) your placement on that Board.

At the risk of being accused of "wilding" (or being called a "racist" - you can always count on "ngee"), I am delighted that the city of Greensboro kicked the embarrassing/ineffectual Mayor Yvonne Johnson to the curb . . . and that the good guys (or at least what appear to be good guys) finally "beat the bastards!". I'm holding my breath on the "hope and change" stuff. But maybe the new administration will at least be able to clean up the police department.

I am equally delighted that the evil Tony Rand is leaving the N.C. Senate. And I have to wonder WHY? Now that the state Rand helped Mike Sleazely lead into virtual bankruptcy is finally waking up from decades of blue-room slumber . . . and we ordinary saps are smelling the feucnd stench of corruption, what delicious scandal is good-ole-Tony trying to dodge? It must be a beauty.

I really cannot wait.

I also called my Aunt & Uncle last night to congratulate them on the commonwealth of Virgina coming to its senses. I read that President Obama did not watch the returns and is distancing himself from the losses of the "progessives" (is anybody else SICK of that word?) that he supported. If I were he, I probably would not have watched either.

Of course, I'm not him. And the President who wants to "reform" my world, does not have a clue who/what I am.

My point is this: The dragon wins a lot. But he doesn't always win.

And hold on tight folks. Because in a few months, I'll be getting out my own fire extinguisher.

A couple of dragons are going down.

I Just Want To Say Hi

It's been a long day. Rewarding in its way. The kind of day that reminds you why you became a doctor.

I've noted on several occasions that I now follow traffic stats on this blog.

Someone at Randolph Hospital drops by fairly frequently.

Hi guys! I bet these days you-all wish you had played fair. But you didn't. I hope everyone else who drops by tells ten people about you and your hospital and your warped version of "small town values" and the back-stabbing way you do "business". I hope those ten then tell ten more . . . and those ten tell ten . . . and so on . . . and so on . . .

I will NOT rest until you are held accountable.

*&^%$#@! lying, greedy, sleazeball jerks.

Planned Parenthood: When Babies "Crumple" Before Your Very Eyes

I understand Abby Johnson's epiphany. Sometimes the truth comes to you in a moment.

Mine came not very long ago . . . as I stared down in bittersweet wonder (I will never have a child of my own) at a baby girl newly born.

Abby's came as she watched one "crumple" into pieces before it could be born.

"For them (Planned Parenthood) there's not a lot of money in education," she said. "There's as not as much money in family planning as there is abortion."

Man, she NAILED that one. There is a whole lot of money to be made in ignorance and death.

After all, we wouldn't want these young women to be "punished" with a baby.

I Will Remember You

Halloween is always a bittersweet night.

For Bill. Miss you.

Mike Easley And Andy Gregson: "Ridiculous And Absolutely False".

I admit it. Thursday's post was a bit over the top. But like I said, after doing everything you're supposed to do . . . and jumping through every hoop . . . you get tired of being blown-off by blow-hards.

Besides, I pretty much know what I have to do now. I think I knew all along I'd have to do it.

But I dared hope for change.

I had not even finished my morning coffee this morning before two news stories got the blood boiling.

The first is local. Some sleazebucket has been sending out anonymous letters ("signed", if one can call it that, "Concerned Citizens of Randolph County") accusing a candidate for the Troy City Council (Mike Robertson, who runs a Christian Academy) of child molestation. The letters also accuse the Randolph County DA's office (my heroes - not) of covering the case up.

Of course, given my own experience with the Randolph County District Attorney's office (having actually signed my name to a criminal complaint), that last part would not be very hard to believe.

Dissing the DA is actually quite the clever hook on the part of whoever is doing this. They obviously know they've got a river of discontent upon which to feed.

Anyway, you-all know how I feel about courageous anons.

These allegations against Robertson REEK of way-less-than-noble motives, and may be tied into "Hatfields & McCoys" type vendetta . . . stemming from a report Robertson filed on behalf of a young relative long ago (people involved in the medical care, daycare and teaching of children are required by law to report possible child abuse/neglect to the proper authorities when it is brought to their attention . . . and when you do that, it generally pisses someone off).

Of course, allegations of child sexual abuse are devilishly hard to navigate. We live in a sick/warped society, and, I am sorry to report (contrary to popular belief) children & adolescents are quite capable of lying . . . for a lot of the same reasons adults do. In the absence of solid physical evidence, it often boils down to he said/she said.

I've been caught up in that kind of maelstrom before (as an expert witness) . . . with King Dozier and the gang. Indeed, after that particular case, I stopped doing child abuse exams (except in dire emergencies). I was totally disgusted with the legal system. My soul was sucked dry.

Yes, indeed, kiddies. Courtesy of Randolph County, another child advocate bites the dust. Par for the course.

Our local legal system is notoriously adept at screwing pooches.

As an aside, on a much higher plane of ugly (and since I still get a modest amount of traffic on my posts on the subject) the Melvin Levine case still smarts on so many levels . . . the North Carolina Medical Board having utterly dropped the ball on the one chance the general public had to really sort out the truth.

I digress. In a rare move for our DA's office, ADA Andy Gregson called up the Courier and vehemently denied the veracity of the accusations against Robertson (and more importantly, his office). They are "ridiculous and absolutely false".

Here's the thing about that: A few letters go out accusing his office of malfeasance, and Andy Gregson is spitting and spewing denials to the press.

On the other hand I've only been giving the Randolph County DA's office hell on the Worldwide Web - first with a website - then with this blog - for five years. Not a peep has been heard out of our Andy.

I guess what I'm saying is not "ridiculous or absolutely false".

But the thing that really got me was the candidate's fundamental naivete about how the real world really works for those of us who do not have a local newspaper at our beck and call:

Robertson said he hopes people who get the letters will realize that multiple law enforcement and court officials would not jeopardize their own careers to cover up a charge against a citizen.

Insert cough that sounds like bullsh*t!!!

News flash, Mr. Robertson. Unlike the North Carolina Medical Board, I don't put any stock in anonymous sources (that pesky concept called due process is a bit of a sticking point for me), and there's no evidence to wish you ill will. But you apparently are special . . . "right people" (as the Schmidlys say).

Some of us are not. And covering stuff up does not exactly jeopardize legal or law enforcement careers around here.

Once again, six years ago (in 2003) after I figured out just how thoroughly I had been hosed by the local hospital and the local bar (pun intended), I filed a criminal complaint (redrafted in pseudo-legalize in 2005) against some very important Asheboro businessmen (I like to call them "non-profiteers" or "unconvicted felons").

Perjury has no statute of limitations. It's a beautiful thing, really. When Bob and Steve jumped overboard into the criminal realm, they went for the deep water.

But for some inexplicable reason, I'm still waiting for Mr. Gregson & company to refer the case to the North Carolina Attorney General (something that every lawyer I've ever discussed this case with said should have happened when I first reported it). Like the Duke rape case (comparatively speaking, my case could be considered a negative image), Roy Cooper is not going to intervene unless he is asked by somebody to do so (nevermind that there are a host of reasons why he could/should). Of course, it's hard for Mr. Gregson or his boss to make a referral when they haven't even interviewed the victim of the crime.

We doctors don't rate in Randolph County. We're "a dime a dozen". And OBTW, despite its hallowed principles regarding duty, the North Carolina Medical Board is apparently cool with that mindset.

Of course, my case against Randolph is a lot like the one against Mike Easely. The lying occurred in state Court. But the Feds are the people who really need to take the lead here. Most of the recruitment (& retention) money that went down the toilet when Randolph worked its magic was Federal (flushed, in no small part, courtesy of the do-nothing nimrods in the NHSC's legal department). Randolph Hospital is a "non-profit". The lying concerned information published on Federal IRS 990's (public record).

Alas, USAG, Eric Holder, is too busy making sure the terrorists at Gitmo get nice pillowcases, better mail service and their H1N1 shots.

IN MY CASE, THERE HAS NOT BEEN AN INVESTIGATION. ON ANY LEVEL. Not the Asheboro Police, not the Randolph County Sheriff's Department, not the U.S. Inspector General's office, not the SBI, not the FBI, and not the IRS.

BECAUSE IF THERE HAD BEEN AN INVESTIGATION, "NON-PROFIT" RANDOLPH HOSPITAL EXECUTIVES, BOB MORRISON AND STEVEN EBLIN, WOULD HAVE DONE THE DANCE ON MULTIPLE FELONIES.

THEY ALSO WOULD HAVE BEEN HANDED THEIR WALKING PAPERS LONG AGO . . . AND WOULD NOT STILL BE SKIMMING THE FAT SALARIES AND RETIREMENT PARACHUTES.

You see, the Court (be it state or Federal) simply cannot argue with sworn signatures . . . or black and white, bold-faced lies.

BUT YOU CAN MAKE SURE IT DOES NOT GET TO COURT.

OF COURSE, ECONOMICALLY SPEAKING, RANDOLPH HOSPITAL, WHOSE RUBBER-STAMP BOARD OF DIRECTORS LET THEIR EXECS SAIL ON EVERY ACT OF MALICE, WOULD BE CIVILLY LIABLE FOR DAMAGES WHEN THEY WERE CONVICTED.

I'm wondering. If a few letters have Andy so worked up, maybe I should cease and desist on the blogging and start sending out postcards.

Now I had barely digested this story, when I hopped on over to the Raleigh News & Observer to catch up on the Sleazely saga (as of tonight, it's all going to the Wake County DA for review - and that opens a whole nuther can-o-worms).

In the interest of full disclosure, I must confess that I've not watched any video of Easley's testimony. There's a simple reason. Quite frankly, I'd hurl. The Sleazeball really turns up his constipated Southern twang for the cameras, and it invites a visceral response from my viscera.

One of the commenters on the story (who is apparently less gastrointestinally-challenged than I) had this observation to make:

I just love how Easley incorporated "the little chil'ren" in his testimony, they being his main focus while gov'na.

Huh? What? No he didn't! It was all for the children!?! YOU GOTTA BE KIDDING ME!!!

Now, dear reader, picture Dr. Mary at her computer, left eyebrow doing the Spock thing, ears perked, right jaw clenched and eyelid twitching, nostrils flaring, eyes squinting, and fingers flying as sparks literally shot from her head:

. . . if he did say that helping "little children" was his main focus as the Governor of North Carolina, he sure sank that boat when he blew off a Pediatrician-in-public-service . . . who FOR YEARS pleaded for his help.

A lot of little children in Asheboro - and their parents (the ones who pay the taxes) - got the short end of the medical oversight stick on his watch.

I believe they call it PERJURY;)

My God, how these people LIE! And LIE. And LIE some more.

Governor Easley, after YEARS of you and your WORTHLESS/USELESS Attorney General sticking up your noses at this home-grown Pediatrician-done-wrong, don't you DARE tell me you were all in it for the kids!

It's ridiculous and absolutely false.

Exhausting All The Possibilities: Coolly Speaking, I'm Pretty Much Done With The N.C. Medical Board And The Useless/Worthless (NCAG) Roy Cooper

From city council members to state legislators to venerated long-time Congressmen & Senators (regardless of the party affiliation) to the man currently in the White House, I pretty much hate most politicians. And it's because most of these people LIE all the time.

Joe Wilson was absolutely right.

These people talk a very good game to get elected (Mike Easley certainly did). And they'll promise anyone anything for a vote. But once they're elected all the promises go straight out the window, and self-interest/preservation takes over. Mediocrity and half-assedness always wins. And accountability & transparency are just buzz words to smooth over incompetence and corruption's rougher edges.

For instance, earlier this week, I read that, in a new push for a "public option" in healthcare reform (translation: Medicare for everybody or "universal care"), the wicked-witch-of-the-West, Nancy Pelosi, has re-named it "the competitive option". Apparently, Democrats are now banking on the notion that half the country is brain-dead and won't know the difference.

As if ANY company will be able to compete with the government. And as if ANYONE on the government's payroll can manage what they have now out of a wet paper bag.

I wasn't going to post this correspondence until I got an answer. But Fec's recent ditty - on writing a letter to Howard Coble and getting the classic "blow-off" reply, set me off.

And, then, there was this comment on the N&O's latest article on the Sleazely hearings going on in Raleigh this week - as our former Governor (also a former state Attorney General) took the stand and (based on where all the other evidence is pointing) very probably "coolly" committed perjury:

Sad part is if that any other North Carolina citizen had committed 4-5 felonies they would already be on trial.

Uh, no, dude. You could not be more wrong. (The reader can peruse my response to Xan on the thread - comment #18 - assuming it does not get deleted by the N&O thought police).

For, in addition to all of the scumbag business tactics I endured, I've got Randolph Hospital non-profiteers, Bob Morrison and Steven Eblin dead-to-rights on multiple felonies: perjury, contempt and fraud. Yet I've been blown-off by EVERYBODY (including the press) for eleven years.

You see, I'm not "right people". Never have been. It's the reason that, in eleven years (I know I keep harping on that, but it's been ELEVEN FRICKING YEARS!?!), I have never scored even one meeting with the very important locals sitting on Randolph Hospital's Board of Directors. It's the reason that the Randolph County DA's office (that would be Garland Yate, King Dozier and Andy Gregson) has yet to even meet with me. It's the reason David Renfro's Courier Tribune and John Robinson's N&R kept the lid clamped down tight (advertising budgets matter - especially to dying newspapers in bad economic times).

Great oversight. Great law enforcement. Great journalism. Not.

You just get tired of people in positions of power who do not treat you like a human being.

And/so, with all of this in mind, published here on Housecalls for your reading pleasure is the e-mail I sent to the North Carolina Medical Board last week (I have return receipts).

Ms. Fisher-Brinkley, Mr. Mansfield,

In June, I met with Mr. Mansfield and Dr. Saunders (NCMB President) about my situation in Asheboro and my case (for perjury/contempt/fraud) against senior Randolph Hospital executives . . . a case that both Mr. Mansfield and Dr. Saunders acknowledged fell through some serious cracks in the system.

I was given the impression that the case would finally move forward in some fashion.

It's October.

I have not heard WORD ONE - either out of the Medical Board or the N.C. or U.S.Attorney General's Office. It does not exactly fulfill the "hope" and "change" that was supposed to be on the horizon.

Apart, from being totally reprehensible, unacceptable and inexcusable, it's just RUDE.

I have a limited amount of time in my upcoming schedule (i.e. anytime next week . . . or on Friday November, 20) to once again come to Raleigh and attempt some kind of resolution that does not include me taking legal action against the state for gross negligence.

I want to meet with Mr. Mansfield and a representative of the N.C. Attorney General's office. I believe I have been very, very patient with all of the agencies that stood silently by and allowed this eleven-year cluster-screw of a good doctor.

Be advised that (once again) I would not be coming with an attorney. You see, as I see it, I am the VICTIM of a series of crimes - which have yet to be even properly investigated - much less prosecuted by the state. I am not going to spend one more dime on an attorney until I am compelled to take formal action.

Most specifically, if nothing is to be done, I would like to hear, in person - from the lips of an actual warm body at the NCAG's office, why Roy Cooper and our Governor do not find a "non-profit" hospital retaliating against a physician-in-public-service for doing her duty (duty clearly outlined by the N.C. Medical Board) worthy of even an investigation.

I also want an explanation as to why the North Carolina Medical Board was/is content to DO NOTHING as one of its own swings in the wind of North Carolina's empty rhetoric on ethics, accountability and patient safety.

Thank you for your attention to this matter,

Mary Johnson, M.D.
Asheboro, N.C.

As of this morning, I have yet to get a reply. And I gotta say, silence was just not the way to go here.

This week I also fired off an e-mail to the "investigative journalists" (they call themselves, "watchdogs") at the N&O (like the JR of old, they're telling us they care and they'll tell our stories):

You-all know I'm here: Pediatrician in state & Federal public service in Asheboro fired for defying threats, saving a baby's life and reporting what happened to peer review (and later the Medical Board).

Doctor fired. Practice destroyed and absorbed by "non-profit" - in breach of Federal agreements.

Doctor sued for telling the government she sued the truth - it's called a SLAPP suit.

Hospital ran from its own lawsuit - and settled out-of-court - but not before brazenly and repeatedly lying under Oath about the "confidentiality" of financial information that was public record (via IRS 990's) and already published on the Internet.

The state and Feds (Medical Board/NC State Bar/JCAHO/NC & USDHHS/Attorneys General) have DONE NOTHING to hold the hospital accountable.

It's been eleven years.

Want a Pulitzer in these days of healthcare reform? How about some help turning up the heat on Roy Cooper and Eric Holder?

http://www.drjshousecalls.com/

Sir Winston Churchill once said that, "Americans can always be counted on to do the right thing . . . after they have exhausted all other possibilities."

Yes, I know that I'm spitting in the wind. I know that no one in a position of power in this state ever does anything because it's the right thing . . . as there must something in it for him/her . . . or they have to be backed into a corner facing a firing squad (figuratively speaking, of course).

Nothing proves Sir Winston's theory better than this former public-service physician's eleven-year odyssey through North Carolina's medico-legal oversight system. From DHHS (enforcing the terms of Federal agreements) to JCAHO (sentinel events) to the Medical Board (protecting doctors who do their duty) to the State Bar (policing lawyers - the funniest one of all) to state and Federal Law Enforcement, I've learned the hard lesson that ethics and accountability and transparency are meaningless buzz words.

I know that I am going to have to sue somebody.

When I do, NO ONE is going to be able to say that I did not exhaust ALL of the possibilities. But all the doors and windows were closed . . . and stayed closed.

And/so tell me again, that the administration of Beverly Perdue (even though I've got no use for her Commerce Secretary, I'm speaking most pointedly today about her absolutely USELESS Chief Law Enforcement Officer) is any different than any of the slime and sleaze that has come before.

And tell me again, that anyone other than Mike Sleazely would already be in Court for their crimes.

That's just not so.

NC Blue Cross-Blue Shield Lays A Giant PR Egg: Too Bad The Alternative Is Worse

Blue Cross (my medical insurer) is batting a thousand this week.

A slick flyer that the monopolistic "non-profit" insurer sent out this week - in the wake of a rate increase . . . has hit a sour note with policy-holders . . . and has back-fired in a big way.

(I'll just bet the flyer went out on the advice of a consultant.)

This is the sentiment being expressed by angry policy-holders:

"I went sort of bonkers," said Beth Silberman of Durham. "You're hostage to them, and then they pull this. My new premiums are funding lobbying against competition. It's pretty disgusting."

I think a huge part of BCBS's PR problem is that ordinary folk expect "non-profits" to behave in a certain, "above-the-fray" way. They expect companies that are charged with the public good - and are tax-exempt because they supposedly do the public good - to play fair and spend their money on doing good and right by the people they're supposed to help.

And there you have my beef with Randolph Hospital.

I find great irony in that "non-profit" NCBCBS wants its policy-holders (many of them, like me, with the company by default) to oppose a public option because it presents "unfair competition", funded by the government, to Blue Cross (also subsidized by the government).

You see, "non-profit" Randolph Hospital in Asheboro, North Carolina used every dirty trick in the book to eliminate me as a viable private-practice competitor to the Pediatric practice they threw me out of . . . for (I know I keep harping on this) standing up to the threats (based on trumped-up/bogus accusations) of executives, intervening in a case being mis-managed by another doctor - thus saving a baby's life, and reporting the whole mess to peer review.

The regulatory and oversight bodies that were supposed to protect me from CRAP like this could not be bothered. They still cannot be bothered even thought I have my particular "non-profit" dead-to-rights on perjury, contempt and fraud.

I was recruited home by the government - at tremendous expense to the taxpayer - only to be abandoned by that government when I needed help most.

And/so turning to the government to save us from the "for-profits-disguised-as-non-profits" is,
in my humble opinion, a mistake. Because, when it comes to the programs it has now, the government cannot manage its way out of a wet paper bag. We've lost billions to fraud and abuse - and the government has been unable/unwilling to crack down. And it really couldn't care less about the individual mired in corruption. Our cases are not important enough.

In the great scheme of our broken system of government oversight, do you really think that a patient is going to have more luck than a doctor?

Ergo, I shake my head at these people throwing their snit-fits at rate increases and (as revenge) writing Kay Hagen to support a "public option" (government-run/government-overseen program) that will ultimately make anything that BCBS does to them look like a stroll in the park.

The ordinary John and Jane Q. Public has no idea just how screwed they are.

A Stolen Laptop Full Of Doctors' Social Security Numbers: NC BCBS Had Better Be Offering Free Credit Monitering - For The Rest Of Our Lives!

The N&O reports that a NC Blue Cross Blue Shield employee transferred data . . . including the Social Security numbers of just about every doctor in the state (and 850,000 doctors nationwide) . . . from company computers to a personal laptop which was stolen from a car this past August in Chicago.

The employee transferred the information to the laptop without encrypting the data.

IDIOT! MORON!

Whatcha wanna bet this nimrod still has a job?

As a doctor that "does business" with NCBCBS (as an Independent Contractor, my SS# is not my tax-ID number . . . but it's still my *&^?%$#@! SS#!), I'm just now reading about this in the newspaper today . . . at the end of October.

I've not gotten ANY letters from the company . . . or heard word one about the "free credit monitoring" BCBS is supposedly providing.

I loved this:

When he heard about the stolen data, the president of the Massachusetts Medical Society, Dr. Mario Motta, suggested doctors who use their Social Security numbers for tax identification change their tax IDs.

It's easy to change the number, Motta said. The problem is that once a doctor switches, it takes more time for insurers to pay claims, he said.

Yeah, it's easy to change the number. Just don't count on, in these hard economic times, getting paid.

And never mind that you have to look over your personal financial shoulder from now on.

No biggie.

The Sleazely Hearings

The Raleigh N&O and Carolina Journal Online are having a field day with the Mike Sleazely hearings.

I don't have much to say on the subject of our ex-Governor's "ethical lapses" that would be different from what I've already said.

Maybe the Governor can share a cell with Jim Black and save us all some money.

A Quickening

I am a huge fan of the TV Series, Highlander (subsequent movies notsomuch). Duncan MacLeod of the Clan MacLeod (Adrian Paul) can wave his katana in my direction any day.

I liked the orginal movie - with Christopher Lambert and Sean Connery - too.

I am in heaven tonight. Because last week, I bought the entire boxed DVD set of the TV series.

There can be only one . . .

Goodwill As An "Intangible Asset": Banks Are Finally Getting A Taste Of Their Own Medicine

It just goes to show that if you wait long enough, what goes around . . .

There was an interesting article in the Courier Tribune today on the fortunes of First National Bank. It seems they had a very bad third quarter. A good portion of the explanation was Greek to me (we don't get much business training in medical school), but the bit about "goodwill" caught my eye (and I'll expound on why deeper into this post):

FNB United reported financial results for the third quarter Thursday that included loan losses of $17.5 million, charged off goodwill of $52.4 million, and an Other Than Temporary Impairment (OTTI) write down of $4 million on specific investment security. The company has established a valuation reserve of $6 million for deferred tax assets.

As a result FNB United reported a net operating loss, excluding the goodwill charge off, the reserve and the OTTI charge, of $7.3 million. Adjusting for dividends paid to the U.S. Treasury on the preferred stock issued in February in the Capital Purchase Program as part of TARP, the resulting loss to common shareholders was $68.3 million or $5.98 per diluted share in the third quarter.

Now, I would have stopped there and not even given the next tidbit a second thought:

The company also announced that its board of directors has decided to discontinue the quarterly cash dividend previously paid on shares of its common stock.

“Like many other banks, the prolonged downturn in the residential real estate market and its resulting impact on contractors, developers and property values, has adversely affected our loan portfolio and caused us to add to our reserve for loan losses,” said FNB United executive Mike Miller . . . on the other hand, Miller said in an interview, the bank has seen very good growth in deposits as residents mirror the national mood of saving more and spending less.

I gave it a second thought because someone I know who knows something about these things had this to say:

The above is the clincher, when companies don't pay common stock dividends, they aren't so pretty to the investors. Should this keep happening, watch out. Also, increased deposits mean that they are probably paying more rate to get funds. What they need to be doing is lending, that's how banks make money, not bringing in cash, but sending it out.

Back to "goodwill" . . .

Miller said the write off of goodwill has no impact on the bank’s day-to-day activities.

“It’s an intangible asset that is important to accountants,” he said.

Technically, goodwill is the intangible value assigned to a company’s image, brand name, good standing in the business community, patents, etc., that is acquired when one company buys another company as when FNB United recently purchased Dover Mortgage.

Miller stressed the write down of goodwill does not affect the company or the bank’s liquidity or its daily operations. It does bring the company’s value “on the books” in line with real values such as current stock price. In a letter to shareholders, Miller explained that the deep discount in FNB United’s stock price, very similar to the declines in other bank stocks nationwide, made measuring the value of goodwill more difficult. Circumstances made now a good time to clear that intangible asset from the books, he said.

I'm seeing a lot of irony in the loss-of-"goodwill"-as-a-tangible asset thing . . . because this is what the bankers and the lawyers have done to stomp doctors into the ground over the last decade or so.

On the road, I've seen a number of conscientious/dedicated physicians who invested themselves totally in building a practice . . . to the detriment of their present/personal lives . . . in order to build something tangible for their future that they could ultimately sell or pass on. These are/were good people who really cared about their patients and took the thankless 24/7 call and worked countless hours honing their good reputations . . . only to find out as they neared retirement that "goodwill" and a good name meant nothing to the bankers and the lawyers.

Their practices are worth next to nothing. The retirements they dreamed of having are not going to happen. The pay-off they were counting on is not there.

On more than one occasion, it's been heart-breaking to watch these doctors wrestle with the realization that much of what they worked for their entire lives was for naught.

It's a bitter pill to swallow. Bad medicine to take.

So despite what good-ole Mike Miller says, I'd say "goodwill" is a tangible asset that IS worth something to someone other than accountants.

Of course, it happened to me fairly early in my career, when my practice was so maliciously destroyed in Asheboro - by the unethical/amoral/illegal actions of Randolph Hospital executives. Nearly three years of soul-crushing work that I had put in as a "valued employee" and "partner" in a hometown practice that I had literally started from scratch . . . a practice that my agreement with the Federal government said I was supposed to be able to transition if I wanted to stay in the community . . . was worth NOTHING to these people.

Good doctors were "a dime a dozen" (as God as my witness, Steve Eblin is going to rue the day he said that).

We won't even talk about the monopolization of public funds & resources, and unfair trade practice, inherent to every stunt that "non-profit" Randolph Medical Associates (the wholly-owned "controlled affiliate" of Randolph Hospital) pulled in its efforts to get me to "just go away".

Moreover, Randolph Hospital executives, in their zeal to crush competition and control the Pediatric landscape (and therefore keep "the business" for themselves), did everything they could to destroy the goodwill and good reputation I had labored so hard to build . . . including suing me for "libel" because I told the government I had served the truth about what had happened.

Of course, they had to RUN from that act of despicable malice. But even as they ran, they lied . . . in order to devalue my service, minimize their damages and defraud me of what I was rightfully owed.

And/so dear readers, my own personal "Wall Street" meltdown happened a full decade before it did for everyone else . . . but for all of the same reasons . . . pure-evil-greed, bold-faced lying & cheating, ZERO local/state/Federal oversight & accountability, un-investigated/un-prosecuted corruption . . . in other words corporate malfeasance at its worst.

Mike Miller, the big brother of a childhood friend, sat on the hospital's corporate membership and/or its Board of Directors while all of this happened and did NOTHING to stop it . . . nothing to help someone that he KNEW did not deserve to be treated the way she had been.

Small town values aren't what they're cracked up to be. Yet nobody can figure out why the town is "dying". And a marketing director can fix it.

Yeah. Sure.

I'm told Mike shrugged it off . . . told people that he had nothing to do with the "day-to-day" business of the hospital. He couldn't do anything about it.

And I am sorry. That is just total BS!

I ultimately moved my mortgage from First National.

And/so . . . even though I feel genuinely sorry for all of the more ordinary folk affected by the harsh realities of our current economic meltdown . . . for a very brief moment this morning . . . as I perused this story and sipped my Sunday coffee and contemplated everything that eminent Ivy-league-educated businessman Mike Miller and his very-important-friends-who-sat-on-the-Randolph-Hospital-Board-but-could-not-be-bothered-with allowed me to be put through . . .

I had to smile.

What goes around, Mikey. What goes around.

Brooke Schmidly Strikes Again - And This Time Daddy Co-Signed Her Note

Author's note: Before we get started, let's re-establish that I'm no one's mouthpiece. No one has asked me to do/say anything (they pretty much know better). But I am sick and tired of machinations of the self-appointed "right people" in Asheboro. The opinions expressed here are my own. I EARNED them. In spades.

A short while ago, I blogged on an e-mail-smear . . . aimed against of a couple of Asheboro City Council candidates . . . circulating around Dave's Mountain.

As I noted then, Dave's Mountain residents are not Asheboro City residents and cannot vote in the upcoming Council election - although some of them do think they own the place.

The e-mail was authored by Asheboro Alcoholic Beverage Control Board member, Brooke Schmidly . . . daughter of my ex-attorney, Steve . . . Steve being the not-so-top-notch member of the local bar (get it?) who over-looked multiple counts of perjury and contempt on the part of Randolph Hospital executives before he negotiated a low-ball settlement the hospital on my behalf (after they turned my life into a living hell for saving a baby's life).

It just doesn't get dirtier on a hospital's part - especially a "non-profit" hospital.

The deal was pure negligence on Steve's part . . . and in-your-face fraud on Randolph Hospital's. But it did save the hospital a considerable chunk of change. And Bob Morrison no doubt got a raise because of the masterful legal strategy of brazenly & repeatedly lying under Oath . . . a CRIME . . . MULTIPLE FELONIES actually . . . that he and his lawyers (the so-called "experts who filed the false answers) apparently knew would not be investigated or punished - even if it were discovered.

(Note to the average Randolph County Joe & Jane Q. Citizen needing legal assistance of any complexity or quality in Asheboro: Take it from Dr. Mary. Go somewhere else to get it. And get a change of venue if you can. Because if you stay and you get screwed by lawyerly misconduct, don't expect ANYONE in the local bar - be they lawyers, DA's or judges - to stand up for you . . . and forget about the N.C. State Bar giving you the time of day.)

Anyway, I thought I had pretty-well countered/covered the earth our Brooke tried to scorch with her scare-tactics and flat-out lies . . . and actually hoped that maybe she'd re-think her tactics.

Apparently not. Brooke has sent out a second e-mail - this one was "co-signed" by dear-ole-Dad.

In the first e-mail, Brooke targeted two Asheboro City Council candidates for elimination in the primary - specifically, (1) Linda Carter . . . who, like 40% of the voting public, said NO to alcohol . . . and (I think more tellingly) voted against Brooke being on the ABC Board (retaliation seems to be a recurrent theme amongst all the "right people" in Asheboro); and (2) Ron Powell, a local businessman (retired from the Air Force), who also opposed alcohol sales, and attends First Baptist Church (people of faith and conviction being a horrible impediment to "progress" Brooke-style).

It's crystal clear that Brooke HATES Linda Carter because Linda did not fall in line and jump when Brooke & Steve (honestly, who calls their Father by their first name?) said where and how high.

Brooke cannot control Linda.

And it makes perfect progressively-warped sense that Brooke would oppose Mr. Powell's election to Council - because, for of all the new candidates in the mix, he seems to have done the most "homework" on the issues that now face our city. He has gone to City Council meetings. He has researched the problems.

He is a man of principle. And he's no one's puppet.

We, of course, cannot say the same for Brooke or her Dad. I'm told that, at the recent Council Candidate "forum", they both sat up front (it's always good to be seen) . . . fake smiles pasted on their faces and their heads bobbing up and down like Nancy Reagan marionettes (no offense to Nancy) whenever one of their "right people" candidates spoke. You could almost see the hands stuck up their backs.

As I outlined in my previous post (quite frankly I'm amazed I still care enough about Asheboro to do them), the case our Miss Brooke tried to make in her first e-mail smear . . . that anti-alcohol "activist" candidates for Council somehow endanger all that she & Papa Schmid hold dear (i.e. the ability to buy booze in every nook and cranny of Asheboro every day of the week) . . . was a giant bust.

You see, alcohol in Asheboro is a done deal. The "Welcome-To-The-Closet-Thing-Approximating-Mayberry-Left-On-The-Planet" sign came down at the (dilapidated) train depot (I wish someone would either restore that building or tear it down - it's an affront to railroad enthusiasts everywhere).

Moreover, everyone knows it's a done deal. Except apparently, Brooke and Steve and some of their very good/"right people" friends.

Of course, Brooke's first e-mail worked so well that the candidates Brooke targeted for elimination are still in the running for Council.

Here's the text of the second e-mail:

Friends,

Let me first thank all of you who voted in Tuesday's primary, and those of you who worked with me to spread the word of the importance of this municipal election. I was very pleased with the results, and how much support the candidates we support received, despite the relatively low voter turnout. I really believe that if more voters turn out and vote in the general election, then Clark Bell, Walker Moffitt, Mike Hunter, and Dave Whitaker will be elected. And, that would be a great thing for our city.

My thoughts on Brooke's favorite candidates - particularly "King of the (Dave's Mtn) Crumbling Roads", Walker Moffitt, were covered in my first post.

Those four candidates are forward looking, and share a vision for the Future of Asheboro that is focused on making Asheboro better in every way so that we can be competitive in attracting new businesses, industries, and people to Asheboro. We must remember the progress Asheboro has made in only one year. We cannot vote for people who have publicly taken positions of limiting the sale of alcohol as much as possible.

In short, Brooke and her Father do not want balance and proportion on the town Council. They don't want dissent - or measured voices. They just want a bought-and-paid-for voting block that services the "right people". It's purely about power.

Doing so will be overly restrictive on businesses that exist here now because of the alcohol referendum such as Lumina Wine and Beer, the Flying Pig, and Varsity. Those are just some of the businesses that could not have existed and/or financially survived before last July.

We covered this before. In terms of alcohol, what is sold in Asheboro and where/how it is sold is governed by state law. Local council members (even those Brooke would consider "activist") actually have very little say (something that got the big gloss-over by the "ForTheFuture" crowd during their campaign).

And I really had to think about those last two sentences. Doesn't it go without saying that if these businesses could not have existed, they could not have financially survived? Maybe Brooke & Steve wrote this one at the bar.

Remember that Linda Carter voted to prevent the citizens of Asheboro from even getting to vote on the issue because she voted against allowing the referendum. She has also voted to limit or disallow the sale of alcohol in every issue that has come before the City Council (such as sale of alcohol on Sunday and allowing the sale of beer during Copperheads game). Ron Powell spoke in public comments before the City Council asking to disallow both of those as well.

What I remember, Brooke, is that in ALL of her votes, Linda was representing her core constituents . . . the ones (again, 40% of the voting population) who did not want alcohol sales in Asheboro.

Your point-of-view was certainly well-represented on the Council, so what's your problem? It's fricking America, dearie.

If memory serves (it has to be memory because the Courier Tribune's website SUCKS), the first time the issue of alcohol sales at Copperhead games came up(those games are held on City property so the Council does have some control over what goes on) was BEFORE the alcohol referendum . . . when allowing alcohol sales at only Copperheads games would have opened a Pandora's box of problems and conflicts for the Council.

The next time the issue came up, those Council members who posted an objection to alcohol sales at the games had legitimate concerns about limiting the sale of hard liquor (as opposed to just beer) at games where minors are in attendance, and at a park where tight traffic and parking poses a huge problem . . . in other words, it was about public safety and insulating the town from liability.

Brooke is a lawyer. She should get that.

And OBTW, she can call me backwards, ignorant and regressive (like I care what this little "right people" mouthpiece thinks), but it's my opinion that alcohol should not be sold on Sunday. Given the history of the place, alcohol especially should not have been approved for sale in Asheboro on Sunday. That concession/compromise on the part of the "ForTheFuture" crowd (i.e. actually shown some respect for the wishes and feelings of those who ultimately had someone else's morality imposed upon them) might have gone a long way towards the "reconciliation" that the "Fors" ultimately only gave smug lip service to.

Steve and I are focused on turning out the vote in this election. We ask you to help us. We ask you to talk about candidates and their positions and ensure that people are educated on the actions and public statements of the candidates before they vote.

Me too, Brooke. I'm all for education. I'd love for the average Asheboro citizen to have a better understanding of who is pulling the strings and why.

For example, take a read back through the Courier-Tribune's article, which was re-printed last Sunday, where candidates were asked for their views on various subjects.

Linda Carter answered the question "What do you see as the top two goals in the city's 20/20 strategic plan and what strategies should the city council use to pursue those goals?". Her answer included the following: "My second goal is to continue to work on diversifying our tax base, so that we can stabilize our tax bills of Asheboro homeowners. I am working to bring new businesses to our city and help support businesses that are already here. In becoming more of a retirement community, an area of new business would be the service industry." (emphasis added).

Now, I think Asheboro would be a great place to retire and it is appropriate to advertise that. However, as a young professional in Asheboro I cannot accept that Asheboro is becoming a retirement community. I cannot support leaders who say and/or believe that that is the limit of our future.

It's like Brooke was free-associating here. The "Asheboro 20/20" project (I actually like to call it the 20/200 project - and for some unknown-very-convenient-for Brooke reason, I am unable to pull up the plan on the Asheboro City government website) was NOT Linda Carter's baby. As a Council member, she certainly participated and offered input. But so did the rest of the City Council and a host of hand-picked citizenry (like, for instance, Brooke & Steve's new good pal, the myopically-"visionary", Bob Morrison).

Think of it in Bob's terms, Brooke. More retirees means more Medicare billing for the hospital (a service industry). For all that President Obama is going to do his damnedest to bankrupt the healthcare system, it's still a decent income stream for the hospital - from which your good buddy, Bob, can skim his very hefty "non-profit" salary off the top.

I honestly don't understand the pull of Asheboro for retirees. For I know a lot of them . . . more ordinary Joes and Janes . . . who would get out of Asheboro if they could afford to do so. But they can't.

Moreover, I didn't see ANYTHING in Linda's statement that said ANYTHING about setting "limits" to the town's future, Brooke.

So I've got to ask, what exactly do you and your Dad have against older people who might retire here (except that they might not be party animals and booze hounds - and might not want titty bar or beer joint on every corner)?

How many drinks did you & Daddy have at the Flying Pig before you singled out retirees to dump on?

And OBTW Brooke, if you're so gung-ho on recruiting young professionals to Asheboro, allow me (a not-so-young-anymore medical professional) to make a suggestion: After the way Dr. Mary Johnson was treated when she came back HOME to serve the community-where-she-was-actually-raised-and-you-were-not (we won't even address all of the other good physicians-not-from-Asheboro who came and left through the revolving door of abnormal turnover), THE WORD IS OUT ON ASHEBORO AND RANDOLPH HOSPITAL.

The teaching hospitals (especially the Pediatric ones) know . . . other hospitals know . . . the physician recruiting firms know . . . the locum tenens companies know . . . and so on and so on. You could say that Bob Morrison fulfilled one of his own plagiarized prophecies. Because, for all that the Courier Tribune has done its damnedest to keep the lid clamped down tight, a decent Google search is all a young medical professional looking for a new-place-to-call-home needs to do in order to find out ALL about how the "right people" in Asheboro eat their professional young.

Didn't you get the memo, Brooke? Good doctors are "a dime a dozen". It's a great physician recruitment line.

They're lining up in droves, baby.

I wonder what young lawyers are worth?

Over the years, your new best buddy, Bob Morrison and his management "team" of back-stabbing snakes have treated good doctors like crap. The doctors get disgusted and leave . . . but Bob/his team keep getting raises - courtesy of their rubber-stamp Board of Directors.

If you REALLY wanna do something to help the future of Asheboro, you might consider (1) encouraging Randolph Hospital to sit down and make it right with Mary Johnson . . . something your dear-old-Dad (aka "Steve") might have facilitated long ago (like when I first confronted him with his legal ineptitude), and/or (2) encourage those "right people" at Randolph Hospital to do the right thing and GET RID OF BOB MORRISON AND STEVE (EBLIN).

Hope and change, baby. Hope and change.

Bob Morrison is nothing if not a master of the dodge. But I've got NEWS for you, Brooke. Asheboro's physician recruitment problems are NOT about alcohol. When I was recruited (in 1994-5), many of the young doctors who came with me actually chose to come to Asheboro because of its Mayberryish qualities . . . it was "dry", with good school systems, and safe (i.e. not a major north-south/east-west drug stop) and a nice place to raise a family.

Notsomuch anymore. There are a host of reasons for that . . . WAY beyond the scope of this post . . . but a good many of those reasons lie squarely at the feet of your friends . . . those "right people" . . . the ones that ran the mills and bought the local politicians and bulldozed the town to the point of "death".

People like Linda Carter, for years a minority voice of reason on this Council, have been swimming uphill against a down-current of self-interest and corruption for years.

I choose to support Keith Crisco's advice of working full time to make every part of our city attractive to new businesses, entrepreneurs, and opportunities. I do accept that it is possible for people to be mis-quoted or misunderstood in the press. However, I have not seen any clarification or correction in the paper in over 2 weeks now.

This is where I completely fall off Brooke's train-of-thought. I just don't get it. What the hell is she talking about? Is that some kind of veiled legal threat (Brooke and her Daddy are lawyers, you know) directed at someone who offended Brooke's tender sensibilities? I mean, she sought out the limelight (such as it is) . . . she wanted the job on the ABC Board . . . and it's a "public figure" kind of position.

Clarification of what exactly? Correction of what?

Besides, the Courier Tribune has a reputation to maintain (I don't expect the new corporately-owned publisher is going to be any different from Mr. Renfro - except that she's prettier and all the "right" types can oogle her). They either get it totally wrong or they don't print it at all.

Once you accept that, you're never disappointed;)

And please, please, please do not get me started on Keith Crisco. IMHO, he has been a manipulative snake since his days on the school board. He is a user (his oily, Eblinish manipulations behind last year's "Sacred Assembly" made me want to bathe). As North Carolina latest Commerce Secretary (also a public figure), Crisco does not have snow-ball's chance in hell of "leveraging" Japan or China, he should not be making "inside track" deals that favor Asheboro above any other North Carolina community, and he is flat-out WRONG about economic incentives.

And once again, if you want "every part" of our city to be attractive to new businesses and young professionals looking for roots . . . Keith & company are going to have to STOP shielding Bob Morrison & Steven Eblin from the consequences of their illegal actions. People are fed up the MBA back-stab routine. When you screw people over, and you get caught, you are going to have to pony up - no matter who you are or who you know.

I expect that parents really do care about the quality of the medical care they're getting . . . and the ethics/principles of those who provide it. I expect that new businesses want the best for their employees/their families, and look at stuff like that when they consider where they might locate a business and create those jobs that don't involve schlepping for tips at a bar.

Two words, once again: Google search.

You wanna make Asheboro more appealing to business? Fix the problems that allowed a "non-profit" hospital to drum a Pediatrician out of her own hometown for standing up to bogus accusations and threats and saving an innocent child's life . . . and for refusing to just say, "bygones" when the powers-that-be wanted her to shut up and "just go away".

Show us some small town values that are not empty rhetoric - or smoke & mirrors.

WHAT GOES AROUND, BROOKE.

So say Hi to your Daddy. He totally screwd up. And he sold me out. But you both know that. Cue the insipid smiles.

(You could say I'm pissed off because I missed all the Copperhad ballgames.)

Please help us by:

- VOTING! Early and One-Stop voting will take place Oct 15 - Oct 31 at the Board of Elections on Worth Street and at the County Office Building on McDowell Rd. The General Election is November 3.

-Encouraging your friends, families and associates to support Clark Bell, Walker Moffitt, Mike Hunter, and Dave Whitaker

-Encouraging college students who were so active in supporting change in Asheboro in 2008 to request an absentee ballot and vote in this election as well. The last day to request an absentee ballot is October 27. All absentee ballots must be received at the Board of Election by 5:00pm on November 2.

Oh yeah, baby. Just ask Greensboro, that's exactly what we need. Alcohol is here and it's here to stay. But let's put "the fix" in on the next Asheboro City Council election by bringing in college kids (who you & your Dad theorize only care about their next buzz) to cast absentee ballots in order to solidify your power base. I wonder if these college students know how thoroughly you are playing them for malleable saps?

You two really are pieces of work. The sad thing is that so few locals now care enough to vote that your tactics might actually work.

I guess there is a little bit of a silver lining. At least (Bob Morrison's perpetual puppet) April Thornton isn't running this time.

-Consider giving financial support to some or all of these candidates so they can reach out to voters and turn out the vote on election day!

I strongly suspect that these four, hand-picked-by-the-right-people candidates already have quite a bit of financial support.

We look forward to working with you all in this election.

Sincerely,

Steve and Brooke Schmidly

I guess my biggest question (and it's posed to the Asheboro City Attorney) is, does ANYONE at City Hall know the meaning of "conflict of interest"? I mean, Brooke Schmidly sits on the ABC Board by a vote of the Council. She serves at their pleasure.

In other words, Linda Carter is still one of Brooke's bosses. Now I'm a "free speech" kind of girl, but who the hell does Brooke Schmidly think she is to pull a stunt like this?

Linda Carter voted against Brooke being on the ABC Board (I'm told Daddy Steve was really put out Brooke was not rewarded with its Chair), so Brooke has personally & brazenly targeted Linda for elimination from the Council. And, as we addressed in my first post on this subject, her tactics include manipulation of the facts and outright lying in order to achieve her ends. What gives?

I mean, I know I once worked for lying Bob Morrison & Randolph Hospital (where ethics went out the window long ago), but is there not a code of professional etiquette and ethical conduct for the people "serving" on Asheboro's ABC Board?

Does this not SMELL like the back parking lot of Rockola to anyone else?

Here's another thought (said out loud for the people in Asheboro who do not run in packs). When you go to the polls in a local election, perhaps you should not vote for all of the people you could vote for - but just the people who positions you know/understand/support. If that's just one person - or two - or three - that's fine. You don't have to punch all the chads for the sake of punching chads.

I think a lot of people get elected to Council solely by name recognition - it's how self-seving business people like Walker Moffitt have stayed on the Council for so long. It's how David Smith will have worked his way to Mayor-by-default.

One more thing about the booze. The Courier, being the Courier, has been very lax in its reporting of the negative aspects of alcohol sales in Asheboro. You don't get to read about the nasty bar fights and the accidents and the domestic violence and even the deaths attributable to alcohol in the Courier Tribune - and if you do, it will be down-played. It's classic Asheboro/Bonnie-Renfro-style economic development strategy. Accentuate the "positive" (i.e. how many new bars and second-rate/no-benefit/dead-end jobs have been created). Completely ignore the negative.

Brooke Schmidly is very proud of herself for her stand. She brought alcohol to Asheboro. It's her legacy. "Great" things will come of it. There is profit to be made (mostly by "the right people") and our Miss Brooke will be at the forefront of all things progressive.

On the flip side, banished from town because I saved a baby's life eleven years ago and would not pander to the hospital's cover-up (my legacy - I'm proud of it), I am proud to have stood with my Mama and her friends - and FBC's pastor - and Linda Carter - against alcohol and for the Asheboro-of-old (something that was unique and special and, yes, even marketable if more-than-just-a few-people had put themselves whole-heartedly into the effort - as opposed to using every back-handed/back-room trick in the book to get alcohol in). And/so, I make no apologies. I sleep very well at night - because I don't have to worry about my stand having caused even one person alcohol-related misery.

In the interest of full disclosure, one of the YaYas was involved in a serious car accident last night. Her car was totalled when someone ran a stop sign and pulled out right in front of her. Fortunately, she was not badly hurt. There was speculation (not sure how that panned out) that the other driver may have been impaired.

If the driver were impaired and it had happened here, I suppose our Miss Brooke would be real proud of herself.

For there is profit to be made in misery. And there's going to be some real misery in Asheboro's future now.

Let's put it another way: If my dear friend-since-childhood had died yesterday because of a drunk driver - especially a drunk driver that might have been stopped by a simple city ordinance setting limits that our Miss Brooke and her Father might have no use for, do you honestly think I would give a tinker's damn if I could go to a local bar if she were not there for me to take along?

THINK as you vote, people. If Linda Carter and some of the (current) minority voices on the Asheboro City Council can save EVEN ONE LIFE by having the courage (and common sense) to say, "NO" to the "right people" more than once in a great while, might that not be worth your vote?

A Lovely Gesture: The Gratitude Campaign

A good friend (who reads and comments on this blog) has a son who will be moving from Parris Island on to Marine Infantry training on to God-knows-what you-know-where.

His Mother and Father are very proud of him. They are very pragmatic in their philosophy. Someone's son has to do it.

I think this is a lovely gesture, and I plan to do it (or maybe my own variation;) every chance I get.

More Thoughts On Medical Whistle-Blowers Hosed (Be They Nurses in Texas Or A Doctor In Asheboro, N.C.) And What President Obama Could Do NOW

In follow-up to my last post on the Texas RN's facing criminal charges . . . because they reported a doctor peddling homeopathic remedies in the ED of a county hospital to the Texas Medical Board . . . I thought I'd post a comment I put in at Kevin MD's (once again, talking back to an Obama fan going by the moniker of Lmaris):

First I give you Lmaris (in blue because he's just so fricking enlightened and progressive):

Mary apparently is under the impression that the President (this one, but not the last one) can snap his fingers and make laws by himself. Of course the last one chose to violate the constitution and used signing statements to pick and choose which laws he’s signed he’d enforce. But since President Obama remains faithful to the Constitution he swore to uphold, he’s being condemned?

This case isn’t about the President or how you don’t like him. It is about the Texas medical board, how it protects doctors at the expense of patients, and how willing it is to violate privacy themselves to allow doctors to prosecute their accusers.

I just love it (NOT) when President Obama's supporters talk to me like I'm an idiot who has not been fighting the very battle they're pontificating on (anonymously - how brave) for well over a decade. It reminds me of John-Boy and Lizzie Edwards (those Dems pretty much all sound the same to me now).

My response:

Lmaris, it would seem to me that President Obama was under the mistaken impression that he could just snap his fingers and make the entire medical system bend/jump to do his bidding. If memory serves, he was going to ram reform down our throats this past summer (the Dems were acting like a bunch of sailors drunk with new power) – but some folks (Republicans mostly) concerned (at least in small part) about Constitutional checks and balances stopped him.

The Texas Medical Board is not the only medical board in the country with big problems in terms of doing right by medical whistle-blowers. I met with the President and lead attorney of the N.C. Medical Board back in June to discuss my case – a case that they freely admitted had fallen through some BIG cracks.

It’s been several months, and I’ve not heard ONE WORD out of the Board or the NC/US AG’s office (calls were supposed to be made on my behalf).

I’m so disgusted, I’m ready to sue the Board, JCAHO and NC/USDHHS.

If I am forced to file that lawsuit, I can guarantee you, it will be a thing of beauty.

And/so I know EXACTLY how these nurses (totally abandoned to the good-ole-boy wolves) feel.

This case – in which two nurses were fired and are being maliciously prosecuted (a crime in and of itself) for doing their duty . . . and mine – in which a Pediatrician in public/Federal (key word: FEDERAL) service was fired and maliciously battered in civil court for doing hers . . . could VERY EASILY be dealt with by the powers-that-be in the state and US Attorney General’s offices.

But cases like mine/like that of these nurses are not important enough to pursue. Incredibly, when I met with an investigator from the IRS (in 2006 - THREE YEARS after reporting multiple counts of perjury, contempt and fraud to our local DA's office . . . a USELESS BUNCH OF SUCK-UPS TO THE LOCAL GOOD-OLE-BOYS that has yet to even investigate the case - or refer it up the legal food chain to the NCAG's office - where it should have been from the beginning), this is actually what I was told.

Here’s an example of what might happen if someone in the Obama administration "snapped" those fingers:

If they did not “pony up” and do the right thing by the professionals they retaliated against, the hospitals involved could lose their Certificates of Needs and their funding for various projects – even their “non-profit” status.

In my case, the executives involved could be prosecuted for FEDERAL crimes (i.e. brazenly lying about the “confidentiality” of their “non-profit” books and salaries) . . . in a successful bid to defraud the doctor they wronged out of damages she was rightfully owed.

IT AIN'T JUST ABOUT WHAT HAPPENED ON WALL STREET BOYS AND GIRLS. RIGHT HERE IN SMALL TOWN ASHEBORO: MULTIPLE LIES. MULTIPLE FELONIES. RANDOLPH HOSPITAL'S BOARD OF DIRECTORS & CORPORATE MEMBERSHIP (ALL FINE, UPSTANDING TYPES) HAVE KNOW ABOUT IT FOR YEARS. SO TELL ME. WHY HAVEN'T THESE MASTERS OF BUSINESS BEEN FIRED?

In other words, MUCH PRESSURE could be brought to bear against those who would retaliate against medical whistle-blowers IF the government (and assorted regulatory bodies) would acknowledge that the problem of retaliation exists.

Maybe it would take more than a “snap” of Obama’s fingers, but it could be done a whole lot more easily than some of the other things he’s trying to ram down our throats.

And it would send a very clear message that retaliation against medical whistle-blowers is not something that is going to be tolerated by the “hope and change” crowd.

HCQIA (peer reveiw) needs to be fixed. HIPPA needs to be fixed.

Medical Boards should be advocates for the profession – in addition to providing discipline.

DHHS needs to protect its own.

JCAHO needs to wake up and stop dumping on “disruptive” doctors and nurses and start looking at the things going on that might be making them “disruptive” (like bad/corrupt administrators).

But these things have not been fixed.

Bad laws are made by politicians with no clue, and good people are left to swing in the wind – because the politicians won’t take your calls if your case demonstrates a problem with their (great/new/fantastic) law. Since you’re not the one swinging, I totally understand why you don’t get why I’m a little put out by the abject hypocrisy I’ve witnessed on the part of the do-gooding Democratic party (both in Raleigh and Washington) my entire professional life.

Apparently now, after years of hard work trying to keep my head above water (all the while being stomped on & ignored by the likes of Hunt/Easley/Clinton/Edwards/Perdue – because I’m just not “right people”), I’m just a warm body to see the masses of people Obama & company want to add to the Federal entitlement roles.

Speaking of the Constitution, personal property rights, and the re-distribution of “wealth” . . . as doctor (especially one in primary care) I apparently have no rights or dreams of my own.

The fruits of my labor belong to someone else.

I am “a dime a dozen”.

I’ve got news for the President and his team (you’re right, of course – I do not like them – mostly because of their ignorance and their arrogance): Ignoring the problems that good doctors and nurses have faced down in the current way-beyond-messed-up system is not a good formula upon which to base their precious “reform”.

Eric Holder (in the US Attorney’s office) would much rather spend his time ensuring the rights of the terrorists at Gitmo . . . making sure they have nice linens and TV’s and reading materials . . . than doing what is necessary to help productive, law-abiding citizens who have been screwed over by warped interpretations of Federal contracts and laws.

OBTW, I don’t want to hear about GW (and yes, I agree, his Justice Department could have done something to help me and didn’t). You see, GW is (ironically) back in Texas now.

I want to know what this President . . . the one who made all the promises about reform and fixing healthcare . . . is going to do besides posture and preen for the cameras – accepting awards he in NO WAY has earned.

Obama actually would not have to pass a single new law. He could just see to it that some of the ones we have now were enforced.

Just think of it! Reform that actually utilizes what we already have in place in order to right wrong . . . What a concept!

If the President of the United States and his brilliant "team" of reformers and do-gooders do not shortly pull their heads out of their collective butt and start thinking about the people providing the care that they want to pass out like a freebie at a carnival fair (in order to buy votes), then very shortly they are not going to have any good doctors/nurses to provide the care.

We (the good ones - who don't peddle herbs in the ED and don't roll over/go back to sleep when babies are dying) are NOT a dime a dozen . . . and we sick & tired of being treated like we are by losers and thieves with law degrees and MBA's.

Malicious Prosecution: What Dr. Mary Johnson Has In Common With A Couple Of Whistle-blowing Texas Nurses

There's a criminal case in Texas that is getting some collective scrutiny by the medical blogosphere.

Two registered nurses who reported an ED physician to the Texas Medical Board (TMB), for inappropriately prescribing/personally selling homeopathic remedies while working in the ED, are now facing criminal charges. The pissed-off doctor lodged a complaint with the local sheriff, who allegedly is the doctor's business partner (reminds me of Daugherty & company over in Lincolnton).

Faster than you can say, "good-ole-boy", the women were fired from the county hospital, AND indicted on third-degree felony charges of "misuse of official information" (by an apparently clueless DA) . . . because they included patient identification numbers in their confidential (supposedly protected) complaint to the TMB.

This is beyond-warped on any plain-of-rational-thought.

The Respectfully-Insolent Orac put up a post on the case a while back (where I did a bit of blog-battle before vacation), so did the folks at "Better Health". And now KevinMD has one up .

The bloggers universally agree that the case is "disturbing".

It's always curious to me what "disturbs" people. Two nurses under obviously bogus indictment for reporting a quack to the authorities (a case which honestly, with any scrutiny, has little chance of succeeding) has everyone wringing their hands.

But a Pediatrician in Federal & state service whose life and practice in her own hometown was destroyed . . . who was professionally raped, legally battered (with a SLAPP suit), then swindled by a "nonprofit" hospital . . . because she also answered a call to duty (and in doing so, saved a newborn baby's life) . . . because afterwards, she reported what happened to the appropriate authorities (authorities that could not have cared less about ethics or patient safety) . . . can sit and spin . . . for eleven years, no less.

Both of these cases . . . the Texas nurses' (I so hope they kick ass) and mine . . . speak to the fact that medical whistle-blowers are just plain hosed.

The state (regardless of the state) and Federal governments DO NOT CARE.

I mention that I did a bit-of-blog battle at Orac's. Apparently, I offended some Obama-supporters with tender sensibilities. And/so as the more "progressive" types are prone to do, they went on the attack . . . alleging that my criticism of the President lent me "no credibility" . . . this despite the fact that I was there signing my real name (with a blog loaded with FACTS behind me to back it up), and the people lobbing the bombs and ad hominems were doing so under pseudonyms and anonymous monikers.

Makes perfect sense to me.

Undeterred by the contentious exchange at Orac's (it's actually some of my better work), I put my two cents in at Kevin's (once again including criticism of the Obama administration's bull-dosing attempts at healthcare "reform"), and earned the ire of another snarkmaster going by the moniker of "Suuure":

Hey Mary, “What the President is doing (without a real clue as to what he is doing) IS an “Obamanation”.”

Really? He hasn't done ANYTHING yet and you are blaming him…. Do the 8 years prior to his election even register in your head? Because this was an issue long before you had a scapegoat.

I've got ZERO tolerance for people like this now. Ergo, I unloaded (I'm actually kind of surprised Kevin put it up):

“Suuure”.

I did this over at Orac’s with the Obama lovers, but I can repeat myself a little bit here.

Did you ever hear the words “hope” and “change” in the Obama campaign?

“He hasn’t done anything.” Why yes, I know that. (Ergo, he deserves a Nobel.) But that does not make him blameless.

Because, you see, NC&USDHHS know I’m here. The NC (Roy Cooper) & US (Eric Holder) Attorney General’s offices know I’m here. We’ve had ten months of listening to these partisan blow-hards pontificate about healthcare reform . . . my case in North Carolina – and this case in Texas – SCREAMS about all of the reasons why we (providers) need it . . . and yet the Obama administration has done a whole lot of nothing . . . with cases that would be comparatively easy to pursue/fix (perjury is pretty much black and white – malicious prosecution can be quickly nipped in the bud) and would send a very strong message to hospitals who might trounce on medical whistle-blowers.

So I’ve got to thank you for making my point.

I’ve been fighting my battle since the Clinton administration. I will assume you remember the “man from Hope” and Hillary’s village? I begged then-DHHS Secretary (Shalala) for help in enforcing the government’s own (NHSC) site agreements, and was essentially treated like I did not exist for almost nine months (DHHS desk-dwebs even parroted the beyond-warped legal position of the hospital – until a Congressman intervened and they actually had a lawyer with a brain in Bethesda look at the case).

Then they threw me one bone (the required payment of my malpractice tail) and took another dive (completely ignoring the lost Federal funds and the destruction of a practice) – never to be heard from again – even as I legally twisted in the wind – under attack for fighting back.

But hey. Let’s do what John Kerry and John Edwards (on behalf of the the sane folks in the state of North Carolina – those of us who always knew Edwards was a poser and a fake – I’d like to apologize to the American people) and even Obama want – and create MORE public service (translation: indentured servitude) programs for young/naive/idealistic doctors to get screwed in.

North Carolina has been under the control of Democrats for nearly my entire adult life. Our medico-legal system is so corrupt and slanted towards the corporate that doctors have NO CHANCE of pulling themselves out of any hole they might fall into.

Meanwhile, our so-called “advocacy” (the AMA and state medical societies) and regulatory agencies (JCAHO and DHHS) are a huge, worthless joke.

OBTW, Obama is married to an ex-hospital executive (who is credited with helping craft a patient-dumping scheme in Chicago). Do you think my “Scapegoat-in-Chief’s” point of view on doctors might be a little skewed?

It certainly was here: http://drjshousecalls.blogspot.com/2009/08/obama-slams-pediatricians-mr-president.html

And here: http://drjshousecalls.blogspot.com/2009/08/physician-shortages-up-close-personal.html

I’d like to say one more thing – to the gutless coward who came over to my blog this morning (presumably an Obama fan directed there from here) and told me I was “another NC Rep full of sh*t” and to “keep crying”: (1) I’m an Independent. (2) You didn’t get published at Housecalls, but I’m happy to address you here. (3) Try growing up and dropping the nasty ad hominems and maybe listening to those of us who once drank “the village’s” Koolaid and saw our lives poisoned for it. (4) I don’t cry anymore. I make the people who hurt me cry.

If Obama did not want to talk about cases like mine, he should not have brought up the subject of healthcare reform.

Thank you, Kevin, for putting up this post and giving me room to make my points.

In short, "Suuure", and all of the rest of the bleeding-heart/do-gooding progressives out there. I know ALL about "scapegoats". And Barack Obama ain't one.

He sought this job. He told us that he and his "team" could do it so much better than everyone who came before (including his now-good-pal, Hillary). He promised "change". Well, this ex-public-servant-hosed is still waiting to see it.

It's time for this President to pony up and be everybody's President - not just the President of those who serve his pseudo-socialist agenda and/or fawn on his every word and non-existent deed.

That would be change I could believe in.

This Little Piggie

I had my seasonal flu shot several weeks ago (and, unlike previous years, they did not have to chase me all over the hospital to do it;). As per my usual "reaction", I felt a little "off" for a couple of days afterwards, and my arm was just a little sore, but it was no big deal.

Despite the media's best efforts to scare me silly, I got my "swine-flu" vaccine today. I work in a high-risk environment. Comes with the job. Risks vs. benefits. All that rationalization jazz.

There is also another issue to consider. I have trigeminal neuralgia (although I've not had a severe attack in quite a while). All things considered, I'll take a great big pass on getting sick and having the 10/10 headaches that NOTHING can touch (there's a reason it's called "the suicide disease") . . . something even a cold can trigger. If a flu vaccine can prevent that from happening - even once - then get the H out of my way and GIVE ME THE VACCINE.

And/so here's my anecdotal report on getting the piggie-flu shot: I don't want to discourage anyone from getting either vaccine, but DAHAMN!!! my arm ACHES . . . from shoulder to pinkie (which is actually tingling right now - of course, that might because it's been resting against my netbook). I should have taken the medicine in my non-dominant arm.

Didn't think about that when I took off my coat and offered up the sacrifice to the evil (not really - she's actually one of my favorite people) nurse with the needle.

I have been ridiculed by some of the coupon commandos for my wussiness. That's okay. I don't have to share my Advil.

10/17 Update: More anecdotal information. Last night, before going to bed, I had a fever (I almost NEVER get a fever). The injected arm felt like it was going to fall off. My chest hurt as well - a deep burning sensation in the bronchus on the side that took the injection. No cough. No congestion. My throat was getting sore and I was starting to feel my face tingle (never a good sign).

I took 800 mg Motrin and (as a precaution) a dose of my emergency stash of Amoxicillin (which, because of the neuralgia, I always keep in my suitcase for quick ENT action), and went to bed. At about 2AM I woke up in a cold soaking sweat. I went back to sleep. I slept a little late.

But after rising this morning I felt fine . . . indeed, almost "refreshed". It was all very, very, very weird.

What Goes Around: A Job Offer

Yesterday was a dreary day in Eastern, North Carolina. Cloudy. Cold. Windy. On-again-off-again rain. Smelled like Fall. Just my kind of day.

Late yesterday afternoon, after tucking stuff in at work, and while at a local gift shop . . . on a mission to buy birdseed (for a back-porch feeder that keeps the cats entertained) . . . and also looking for a Halloween garden flag to plant outside my apartment's front door (a rare sign of permanence/contentment for me) . . . my cell phone rang.

It's a new phone/new ring that I'm still getting used to - having "killed" the old phone in an unfortunate accident while on vacation. So I literally jumped in and out of my skin.

It was a Locums company I've worked with before . . . since the very beginning really . . . inquiring as to my availability for a job in North Carolina that had just come up. Coverage would be need ASAP until at least the end of the year.

I get these kinds of calls - from different companies - fairly frequently. But I am quite content with my current arrangement (as they treat me like I really am a "valued employee") and I plan to stay indefinitely. Ergo, I turn such offers down (while asking to be kept on the call list for a buzz in a few months).

This time, purely out of curiosity, I played coy . . . telling the rep I was re-negotiating my contract (it's not exactly a lie) . . . and asking where the job was.

The rep replied, "Asheboro". She started to continue with a job description.

I (very curtly) interupted her. "I will not be working for those people."

The rep (sounding very much like it was not the first time she had been cut off as soon as she uttered the word, "Asheboro"), politely asked, "So. You know where this is?"

My response was firm and flat. "Yes. I live there. I know them very well. I will not work for those people (insert unspoken, "For they are evil and have no ethics/honor")."

She (very wisely) said a quick good-bye . . . thanked me for my time . . . without the usual, "Well, if you know anyone who is interested . . ."

Perhaps our young Locums rep should have taken more than a passing glance at my CV before making the call. It's okay. She's got to make a living too.

And, OBTW. Recommend someone for the job? Not even my worst enemy.

A saleslady who was listening to the conversation, laughed as I glared at my cell phone and muttered unprintables, saying, "Well, well, well. We know how you feel about that job!"

My reply was, "Not really. I was holding back . . . but like that old poverb says, what goes around."

I guess good Pediatricians aren't "a dime a dozen anymore". Whoda thunk it?

It's not the first time a company that should know better has called me about a Locums job in Asheboro. It always makes my blood boil.

For if this *&^%$#@! so-called "non-profit" practice - in my own hometown - had treated me with any decency or respect, they might not be needing a Locum Tenens to cover their practice now.
Signing off to mutter more unprintables now.

Eleven Years Ago, In The Newborn Nursery At Randolph Hospital In Asheboro, North Carolina, I Was The One Who Was THERE

The Raleigh N&O continues with its series on the nation's healthcare system . . . what works, what doesn't and what should be done to fix it.

Let's just say the last article I read . . . featuring a not-even-wet-behind-the-real-world-ears medical-student . . . left a lot to be desired. The one yesterday was a little more interesting.

After 18 years as an insurance executive, Ron Howrigon decided to leave the business the night his son was born.

It was late, and the delivery doctor, whose salary Howrigon had worked to undercut in negotiations for his insurance company employer, finally performed a Caesarean section birth. As Howrigon thanked him, the doctor shrugged and said it was his job.

Just like it was my job, eleven years ago, to answer a terrified nurse's call for help the night someone else's daughter was born. Indeed, since that fateful night in January 1998, I've been the only one in a room where no one else wanted to be on more than one occasion . . . doing my job taking care of other women's children even as my own life and dreams lay in shreds around me.

I've done nothing but pay for the decision I made that winter night in the middle of the night . . . nevermind that it was the RIGHT decision. Randolph Hospital CEO, Bob Morrison, his VP Steven Eblin, and fine, upstanding community leaders like Bob Shaffner could not deal with the ugly truth. They had to shut me up . . . and cover what happened up.

The "right people" had a plan. I'm so sick of them.

As of today, I'm working on getting a comprehensive list of the rest of those fine upstanding types . . . the ones who "served" on the Boards of Directors and Corporate Memberships . . . the ones who swallowed . . . hook, line & sinker . . . the damned-lies of the "non-profit" executives whose actions they were charged to oversee (and didn't really) . . . the ones who actually wound up lying themselves.

The names of these fine, upstanding community leaders are public record, and I had better not get any lip from Bob Morrison when he gets the certified letter. I've had quite enough of that.

Back to the N&O story, I love what the tired, worn-out Obstetrician told this particular ex-insurance executive on his way out the door:

And then, as he walked out of the operating room, he turned and said, 'The next time you negotiate money away from a doctor, remember tonight. I was the one who was here,'" Howrigon recalls.

Eleven years ago, in the nursery at Randolph Hospital . . . attending a critically-ill newborn infant who had been grossly mis-managed by someone else . . . I was the Pediatrician who was there.

AND THE VERY LAST THING THIS HAS EVER BEEN ABOUT WAS MONEY.

IT WAS MY JOB TO HELP THAT BABY.

IT WAS RANDOLPH HOSPITAL'S JOB TO PROVIDE AN ENVIRONMENT IN WHICH I COULD SAFELY DO THAT - WITHOUT FEAR OF REPRISAL. IT WAS BOB MORRISON'S JOB . . . AND STEVEN EBLIN'S JOB . . . TO TAKE MY BACK - NOT PUT A KNIFE IN IT.

WHAT RANDOLPH HOSPITAL DID TO ME . . . AND WHAT THE STATE & FEDERAL GOVERNMENTS ALLOWED TO BE DONE TO ME AND HAVE STILL NOT RECTIFIED OR CORRECTED . . . WAS TOTALLY, UNFORGIVABLY UNACCEPTABLE.

If the Raleigh N&O really wants to tell a North Carolina doctor's horror-tale about what does not work in healthcare, they know where to find me (and they'd have first dibbs - as the more local journalist-blogger kings Robinson & Cone do not find my story "relevant" to anything . . . after all, it wasn't their child who almost paid the ultimate price for a local hospital's arrogance & greed).

It's a fact that if some of these reporters at our dying newspapers would wake up and smell the disinfectant . . . and do the reporting that might light some fires under some big Raleigh butts . . . I would not have to file a lawsuit at all.

They might sell more newspapers too.

Investigative journalism. What a concept.

When You Have Just Had Enough Of "The Right People" . . .

Greg Gabbard, a good friend I've never met but reallyReallyREALLY want to, left a comment on my last post (which linked the good news about Lincoln County Sheriff Daugherty being indicted for obstruction of justice).

I responded. And given the turds that Brooke Schmidly's little epistle stirred up (way to pour salt on the barely-healed wounds sweetpea), I think that response merits a post of its own:

Thanks, Greg.

These "right" people make me sick. I am so full of rage at the way we in the town of Asheboro all have been hosed and used by this crowd.

For instance, I've heard through the grapevine, that certain "right" grapes held a more-or-less secret meeting recently - and invited only the Council candidates they deemed worthy (i.e. malleable or controllable) to their little party.

Of course, we "wrong people" all know who they are.

Bob Shaffner, big important ex-Klaussner-money-man, who has been an on-again-off-again Randolph Hospital Board member throughout my eleven-year ordeal (and who, as a fine/upstanding/moral businessman thinks that it's just swell for his good friends running the hospital to threaten good doctors -while covering the arrogance and incompetence of mediocre ones . . . that it's just fine to put the lives of children in danger - and cover all the badness up . . . and that it's a-okay for his friends to LIE their butts off as they dodge the consequences of their actions and fill their own pockets on the public's dime . . . . on the theory that saying anything bad about the local hospital will hurt the local economy) was reported to have stood up at this meeting and said he wanted Dave's Mountain annexed like yesterday.

Bob, being uber-rich, apparently does not care about all of the reasons why that is NOT a good idea - either for the citizens of Asheboro proper - or the residents of Dave's Mtn (not all of whom are uber rich - and OBTW, not all of whom wanted alcohol).

It has something to do with him getting tax breaks on the property he owns out on Lexington Road - breaks the rest of us cannot get.

And/so my response to that is, "Yeah, so? Who gives a royal rip what Bob Shaffner wants?" Let him pay his fair share like everyone else.

Meanwhile, people living in small pockets of town who want and need to be annexed (to get decent basic services - particularly clean water) are being ignored. It's all about money - not a town providing services to residents in need. So that means that BOTH Dave's Mountain residents (some "right people" and some not) and poor Hispanics in trailer parks (definitely not the "right people" in Bob's book - unless they are on the line in his mill) are out of luck.

Meanwhile (again), resident good-ole-boy, Walker Moffit has made a fortune playing the council for all it was worth - and crapping all over his fellow citizens in the deals he's made. Conflicts of interest mean nothing to this man and his friends.

I am DONE with these selfish posers and jerks. I really am. I did exactly what I was supposed to do. I've played by every rule. I've jumped through every hoop, and I've been very, Very, VERY patient.

But if the regulatory and law enforcement arms of the state of North Carolina do not get off their USELESS/disinterested butts and intervene by the end of the year . . . to see my situation properly arbitrated and resolved . . . if this Christmas I cannot tell my Mother (who saw my guts splattered all over Asheboro's White Wall because I did the right thing) that it's over and we/I can move on . . . then I am going to sue the ever-living CRAP out of the NC Medical Board and JCAHO and NC/USDHHS.

And I've got to tell you that that lawsuit will be a thing of beauty - putting anything previously filed against the N.C. Medical Board to shame.

Maybe then, while interviewing people for its series on what works and what doesn't work and what needs to be fixed in healthcare, the Raleigh News & Observer will see fit to include the Asheboro Pediatrician who answered a call in the middle of the night, and came in when no one else would (I so feel another post coming on!).

I will not settle and I will not rest until Randolph Hospital (and everyone who ever sat on its BOD and corporate membership) is laid low for what they ALL did to me.

We'll get some attention focused on this "dying town" and it's economy FOR SURE.

And some of these people will NEED to drink when I'm done.

One more thing. Keith Crisco, apparently Asheboro's new go-to guy in Raleigh, needs to lie low on this one. North Carolina's Commerce Secretary sat at Asheboro City Council meetings and literally sneered at me and my family (we were not "right people") as I pleaded for assistance in lighting fires under "the right" butts. Keith could not be bothered.

But I've got news for our economic-guru-who-isn't-really (I think he's trying to "leverage" China today). On any playing field . . . local or "global" . . . the non-profiteers whose lying, over-paid butts he might try to cover for in Raleigh are plainly and simply unconvicted felons. What's more, Keith's boss, Governor Bev Perdue, got the memo on that a long time ago.

But much like her corrupt, disinterested predecessors in the Governor's chair, Bev did a whole lot of nothing. Never mind that, in lieu of actual prosecution of Randolph Hospital's senior executives for perjury and obstruction of justice, NCDHHS had a lot of options in terms of bringing pressure to bear against the hospital (to MAKE IT PLAY FAIR) . . . including withholding Certificates of Need . . . or rescinding Randolph's "non-profit" status. There were ways to get this resolved. But Governor Bev is just as (1) full of empty hot air and (2) dirty and guilty as the rest.

Meanwhile, we're all supposed to believe that Bev and the Dems really care about children. And doctors. Insert sarcasm: They've only had total control of North Carolina for years, not a dime has been wasted on their watch, and they know what's best for us now.

Yeah, sure. Bring on the Medicaid cuts.

I am a doctor . . . a children's doctor . . . done way-beyond-wrong by my local hospital . . . and the state & Federal governments. And in this era of healthcare "reform", you are gonna HEAR ME ROAR.

Wake Up And Smell The Obstruction Of Justice

Greg Gabbard, of Lake Norman Bath, e-mailed this afternoon with the good news.

The Sheriff of Lincoln County is in heapum big trouble. Tim Daughtery was indicted today for two felony counts of obstruction of justice.

It totally works for me.

It still amazes me what an angry man with a blog can do if he has a decent newspaper to work with . . . and people that read it who actually care about corruption in their community.

Meanwhile, four years ago, Dr. Mary answered the call to citizen journalism and prostrated herself before the so-called "experts" in the Greensboro blogosphere. She begged for help . . . in getting multiple counts of perjury committed by the officers of a "non-profit" prosecuted (of course, it goes without saying that perjury obstructs justice). She jumped through ALL their *&^%$# hoops . . . yet it looks like she's going to have to sue the state to get anyone to move.

It's a sore subject with me these days - especially in the wake of the turds that have been stirred up by Brooke Schmidly's latest "right people" e-mail. I've heard from a number of people who are just as sick as I am of a few people in Asheboro thinking they own the town and everyone in it . . . and can do whatever they want to whomever they want.

Yet somehow, the same greedy, self-serving posers (yes, Mr. Moffitt, that means you) keep getting elected to town Council . . . or getting breaks on their taxes . . .

. . . or getting away with perjury.

And no one can understand why outsiders think Asheboro is "dying".

Asheboro ABC Board Member Brooke Schmidly: Trying To Stack The Deck For Her Future

Author's Note: Everybody has an opinion. When it came to this year's Asheboro City Council elections, I was planning to keep mine to myself. For let's be clear, I'm nobody's mouthpiece. But then along came Brooke Schmidly . . .

In the wake of the primary for Asheboro City Council, and just back home from a mini-vacation with Mama to Ocrakoke, I got wind of a little e-mail ditty floating around Dave's Mountain . . . authored by Alcoholic Beverage Control Board member Brooke Schmidly.

Dave's Mountain, of course, is not in the Asheboro City Limits (not for some folks' lack of trying). Residents cannot vote in the City Council elections . . . much like we could not vote in last year's alcohol referendum . . . a "cause" led by Brooke and her Father and my former attorney, Steve Schmidly.

I've heard, through the grapevine, that several of Asheboro's very big guns (i.e. "right people") somehow have money tied up in the annexation of the Mountain (it has something to do with getting their own property taxes reduced), and they want it annexed like yesterday. Now, I'm a fairly simple girl and don't understand how all that might work, but speaking as a Mountain resident who would see her neighborhood, such as it is, ripped to shreds . . . a resident who would have to worry about cracks in her foundation (courtesy of the literally tons of dynamite that would be required to blast away the solid rock now lying in the path of the second-rate sewer lines the city would lay down) . . . a resident who would have to pay twice as much in taxes for dubious services (like law enforcement that panders to all "the right people" while blowing the rest of us off), I don't really give a rat's tail about what the big guns want.

30 years ago, when this Mountain (which is essentially a giant rock with a layer of grass and trees over it) was developed, the people doing the developing KNEW that sewer lines would be next-too-impossible to put in, and prohibitively expensive. That's why the lines were not laid when the roads were originally paved. The developers were lucky to get decent water lines in. But these days there is a core contingent of very important IDIOTS out there who are convinced that it can be done - never mind that every time someone shows up on the Mountain to dig comparatively much smaller trenches for various simple maintenance projects, their machinery is DESTROYED.

The people screaming for annexation of Dave's Mountain (on the premise that it will make the City of Asheboro all kinds of money) are just IDIOTS - with more money than sense.

A copy of Miss Brooke's e-mail finally wound up in my mailbox yesterday afternoon . . . ironically, the same mailbox that was recently replaced after being "murdered" by a young man who was probably drunk (no doubt courtesy of beverages bought in Asheboro) when he backed over it . . . a young man who has apparently enlisted the aid & assistance of the Randolph County's Sheriff's Department in minimizing his responsibility (and damages that I incurred in replacing the post with something that the next drunk cannot just mow down - i.e. painted steel as opposed to wood).

Of course, I cannot prove the murderer of my mailbox was drunk because he did not immediately own up to what he did, and had to be tracked down . . . that chore actually being much easier after he showed up next door for another party on the very next weekend with a very clearly dented/white-streaked rear bumper . . . pretty much thumbing his nose in the general direction of the property-owner whose mailbox he destroyed.

The brass balls it took for this young man to return to the scene of the crime with the mobile murder weapon are what tipped me over the edge in terms of choosing between taking my property-owner lumps and letting it go (because I remember all too fondly what it was like to be young and stupid) - or tracking him down and making him pay for my trouble. Ergo, a license-plate number was obtained and given to the Sheriff's Department.

After a deputy solicited the young man's confession, an agreement was reached in which he would pay for the cost of replacing the post/box in lieu of prosecution.

Alas, apparently now the sheriff's deputy believes it to be in his job description to barter down that cost on behalf of the perpetrator - who has yet to call, write, ring my doorbell or apologize. My costs included the labor for digging up the old concrete in which the original post was anchored, and replacing it with new . . . after the city/county came out to mark power/gas/water & cable lines. The deputy's theory seems to be that this young man cannot be held responsible for an "upgrade" (i.e. a metal post) . . . never mind that an "upgrade" would not have been necessary had he acted responsibly . . . or that I (remembering what it was like to be young and stupid) might have been inclined to say, "bygones", had he manned up and owned up the morning after.

Now in the Asheboro-of-old (at least on "the wrong peoples' side of the tracks), the young man would have been dragged to my doorstep by his irate Father (who would have noticed the bumper and already locked up the vehicle/restricted his driving privileges) and made to personally apologize & pay whatever restitution was in order - no questions asked. It's called a life lesson.

But in today's Asheboro, Daddy balks at paying the bill. Dr. J gets to eat it. Our small town values seem to have changed quite a bit over the years.

The problem is that Dr. J has already had to eat a lot in this sad/sorry town called Asheboro.

I told the sheriff's deputy I'd call him back (I've found it's best not to talk when you're angry). That was last week - before I left for vacation. I'm still mulling over the whole thing . . . and what I want to do about it (like pressing charges and doing the small-claims-court-thing . . . on behalf of disgruntled murdered-mailbox owners everywhere).

I've digressed. Apparently, Brooke Schmidly's very bold plea to the ignorance has been making the rounds since just before the Fall Festival (which I did not attend). Friends have theorized this weekend that our Miss Brooke is merely a pawn for Asheboro's big boys and is oblivious to it . . . meanwhile, any mistakes she makes (like this e-mail) can be written off to youth and inexperience without being directly attributed to her handlers.

In short, she's a lot like me when I worked at Randolph Hospital - slaving away, unappreciated, in the Pediatric trenches for Bob Morrison.

The following is the text of Brooke's e-mail . . . sent out on September 30th. It's in blue because it's just so progressive. Rumor has it that the text of this e-mail was being passed out from the booth manned by local Democrats at the Fall Festival . . . Brooke and her Dad being big "progressive" Dems.

My commentary is in red.

Hello Friends and Former Volunteers:

I am writing to you because you joined me and the former Committee for the Future of Asheboro last summer to support the alcohol referendum. Passing that referendum was an important step towards a new future for Asheboro. Now, the Asheboro City Council election is upon us and it has never been more important to elect the right people than right now.

There she goes with that "right people" crap again. Who does this girl think she is?

There are at least 2 candidates, Linda Carter and Ron Powell, whose public statements make clear that they want to essentially work towards overturning last summer's election that we all fought so hard for. They want to limit as much as possible the sale of alcoholic beverages in Asheboro. Rather than looking forward to the opportunities and benefits last summer's election may bring, and actively recruiting those opportunities, they want to look only to the past: A past without Lumina Wine and Beer, the Flying Pig, a thriving downtown, etc. We need your help! If those who were opposed to the referendum last summer are the only ones motivated to vote, much of the substantial progress we have made may be overturned by regulation from new, activitst city leaders. Worse, Asheboro may elect leaders who look to the past and fail to adjust to new realities rather than leaders who are progressive, and look for every opportunity to promote economic development in Asheboro.

Here's the thing. I've known Linda Carter a very long time. She is a good egg. She really cares about this town - and unlike others on the City Council who make their living in real estate or development, she has not used her position on the Council to further her own personal financial agenda (stay tuned for my thoughts on Walker Moffitt).

It's no secret that Linda opposed the sale of alcohol in Asheboro (just like 40% of the population that voted on the issue - people she was elected to represent - all apparently "the WRONG people" in "mini-Schmid's" book). But once the referendum was a done deal, Linda realized/accepted that the horse was out of the barn and would not/could not be put back in.

Linda has made it quite clear that "overturning" the referendum is NOT on her list of things to do when the leaders of Asheboro have so many other problems to unify around and deal with. She knows that at this point in the game, any attempt to reverse the referendum would be an uphill battle and a waste of valuable time, effort and resources.

So I have news for Brooke Schmidly. While Linda was not happy about the referendum results (she, like I, believes that Asheboro lost something very unique, special and important last summer), she has adjusted.

And given all of our Miss Brooke's post-referendum prattle about "reconciliation", maybe she should put down the poison pen and try practicing what she has preached.

Linda Carter is running again for City Council because she is concerned enough about Asheboro's future to invest herself into helping mold it into something that everyone can be proud of . . . in a measured, balanced and fiscally-responsible way that is mindful of the desires/opinions of ALL of Asheboro's residents and respectful of the town's history.

And/so while in Brooke's narrow, alcohol-soaked 20-200 vision of the future (in addition to flying pigs downtown, be on the look-out for the titty-bars coming soon to a neighborhood near you), an experienced, reasonable & measured voice on the Council is a bad thing, I would respectfully submit to the ordinary Asheboro voter that Linda Carter is exactly the kind of person this mill-town needs to have/keep on its City Council.

For you see, Linda Carter is someone who is not afraid to be a voice for "the wrong people". More importantly, she is someone who is not afraid to stand up to "the right people" . . . you know, those mill-town bullies who run in packs . . . the SAME ones who, for years, have dominated the Council with their secret meetings and back-room deals . . . the SAME ones who have winked and nodded and run the town into the ground (to the point it was declared all but dead) . . . the SAME ones who are now wrapping themselves in the not-so-magical disguise of the political "progressive" (I am really beginning to hate that way-beyond-over-used word) and looking only to the future/stepping over the mutilated bodies of the people who were mowed down for getting in their way, as they fail to learn anything from the failures of their past.

(As an aside, speaking of abject failures and former City Council members who have moved on to "bigger" and "better" things . . . hey Keith . . . how did those millions in up-front tax-payer incentives . . . a good portion of which Dumpling will not get back . . . no matter what she says . . . work out for Winston Salem?)

As for the other City Council candidate our Miss Schmidly targeted for elimination, I don't know much about Ron Powell, except that he spent ten years in the Air Force and is a deacon at First Baptist Church, but I've got to say, after perusing his website (he's so cool he quotes Spock), I cannot post any serious objection to this man being on Asheboro's City Council.

It sure would be refreshing to have someone new on the Council who could put the needs of the many over the wants of a few "right people".

So, to sum things up, according to this e-mail, it's a horrible affront to Brooke Schmidly for an honest, experienced, un-agendized WOMAN with a history of standing on principle to be on Asheboro's City Council. Ditto for a man who learned service to his community by serving his country and his church first. And/so, in order to service a year-old grudge, Brooke must resort to (at best) misrepresenting the truth in her e-mail . . . and at worst, outright lying.

Like Father, like daughter. For letting Randolph Hospital senior executives, Bob Morrison and Steven Eblin. get away with multiple counts of PERJURY was no big thing for Brooke's Dad.

Brooke and her Father did a lot of whining last year about what they called the "fear-mongering" tactics employed by the "AGAINST" forces prior to the alcohol referendum. But fear tactics (pleading to ignorance) are exactly what Ms. Schmidly resorted to employing in this e-mail. For it is a FACT that the results of Asheboro's alcohol referendum CANNOT be overturned by one "activist" Council member - or two - or even three. It can only be overturned by another referendum - which, as our Miss Brooke well knows, can only be initiated by a majority Council vote or a petition presented by a certain percentage of Asheboro's citizens who are eligible to vote.

And I daresay, the citizens who might consider presenting such a petition are just not up for the mean-spirited mud-slinging of another alcohol referendum - in which even preachers standing on principle were strategically pummeled by Brooke, Daddy & all the "right people" (it being a free country and all).

Oh, and despite all of the "FORTHEFUTURE" crowd's reassurances about the responsible local regulation of alcohol sales and usage (before it becomes this kind of problem), the FACT is that local ordinances and regulations take a back seat to state law. There's simply not that much that Linda Carter, or Ron Powell or any other individual elected official can do to "impose their morality" and "regulate" or discourage the sale of alcohol in Asheboro now that it's been voted in. It was pretty much an all or nothing deal.

OBTW, in terms of "imposing morality" on the general populace, prohibition is the law of the land unless alcohol is voted in. Ergo, the "morality" imposed on all of Asheboro last year was Brooke's.

And before I forget, in terms of accountability at the state level, how about North Carolina's ex-ABC Chief?

Here's what we hope you will do:

1. Vote in the primary on October 6 if you are eligible (early voting is going on right now at the Board of Elections on Worth Street. Early Voting continues through noon on Saturday, October 3. When you come down for the Fall Festival Saturday morning, take a moment to vote for the leaders we identify below!)

Two candidates will be eliminated in the primary. Let's make sure it is the right two! Steve and I have met with most of the candidates and information about them is listed below. Vote also in the general election on November 3. More info will follow on early voting opportunities for the general election.

"The right two"???

I'll give you odds that, in their efforts to be "fair", Brooke and Daddy "Steve" did not meet with Linda Carter or Ron Powell before Brooke sent out her e-mail endorsements.

And Oh dear!. It looks like the two candidates Brooke was gunning for are still on the ballot! Could it be that the Asheboro sun does not rise and set with what Brooke Schmidly and her Father think?

What is the progressive young lady who actually wasn't raised in Asheboro to do?

2. Consider contributing money, time, or talent to some or all of the candidates we endorse below to help them get their messages out.

3. Volunteer to work the polls on the day of the primary and on election day.

4. Encourage your friends and associates to support these candidates!

The candidates we support are:

-Walker Moffitt, who showed leadership and political courage last summer and who constantly looks for ways to promote Asheboro;

I don't know Walker Moffitt on a personal level. But every day I'm home, I get to drive over/around one of his pot-holes. You see, back in the day, Walker built the road I live on (a cul-de-sac off of Viewmont Road on Dave's Mountain) . . . to "minimum" state standards at the time . . . knowing full well that Billie Wilson planned to develop the neighborhood in a fashion that would put big trucks on his roads day in and day out . . . and those roads built to "minimum standards" might not stand up to the punishment. As they filled their pockets, neither Walker nor Billie saw fit to maintain the roads during this period of development (something the state says is their responsibility) - and the state will not now pick the roads for maintenance until they are brought up to current specifications.

No one at the local (i.e. city council or county commissioner) or state level has held the feet of these developers to the accountability fire. And, of course, now Walker and Billie would just as soon the city of Asheboro annex the neighborhood and pick up the bill for bringing the roads up to spec.

Brooke (whose Daddy lives on a Dave's Mtn road that is state-maintained) says Walker is a courageous leader and we need to keep him on the Council. But before they punch those chads, maybe the ordinary citizens of Asheboro (who will be stuck paying the road-repair bill if Dave's Moutain is annexed) should come take a look at the roads Walker built . . . at the end of Viewmont . . . or the cul-de-sac on Wilson Drive . . . and see for themselves how Walker Moffitt treats his fellow citizens and stands behind his work.

One of these days, someone not familiar with one of our Mtn roads is going to hit one of those potholes in the dark and going too fast - and they're going to get seriously hurt or worse. And when that happens, I sincerely hope that the developers of this "neighborhood" (including the man who built the road to "minimum standards") get their butts sued off.

-Clark Bell, a progressive thinker and outstanding leader who will focus on promoting economic development in Asheboro;

Mr. Bell is an Asheboro criminal defense attorney. A newcomer and blank slate on the local political scene, he got the most votes in the October 6 primary. At face value, these things - in addition to Ms. Schmidly's endorsement - do not pass the smell test. But to be fair, I honestly don't know much about the man.

A quick web search reveals that Bell's favorite Facebook page is "the Flying Pig" (a bar in downtown Asheboro). I suppose that bars are good for the business of criminal defense attorneys, but Clark's "favorite" Facebook page would seem to indicate either a manipulative streak or a fairly narrow world view.

I also have to wonder what this member of the Asheboro bar thinks about as-yet-unprosecuted perjury, contempt, and fraud (i.e. criminal behavior) on the part of fine, upstanding citizens like Bob Morrison?

I mean, I grew up here and chose to return too. And I've got news for Mr. Bell. In terms of the economic development of Asheboro's medical community (since economic development is what everyone wants to talk about), alcohol has NEVER been Asheboro's biggest problem in recruiting physicians to town (it is HYSTERICAL to listen to this man - that would be Bob - talk about his values) - or keeping them. Asheboro's problem is a hospital administration that treats very good people like pawns on a chessboard, while shielding mediocrity and bad medicine . . . an administration that has a history of breaching contracts, and demolishing dreams, and even lying and cheating in Court . . . an administration that suffers ZERO oversight from a rubber-stamp Board-of-Directors for all of the hot air that its high-minded members blow about appreciating small town values, rewarding hard work, and wanting people of principle and character on their "team".

It would seem to me that, in terms of the economic development balance sheet . . . and what companies are looking for in terms of an infrastructure that can support the health and safety of employees and their families . . . Bob Morrison's "leadership" at Randolph Hospital falls squarely in the negative column.

Unless, of course, companies want to locate in communities where the local hospital would force a doctor to choose between her job and letting a child die.

But hey, what do I know? I'm not a lawyer. Or a businessman. I'm just the doctor who didn't let the child die.

-Mike Hunter, who is focused doing what is necessary to support economic development in Asheboro;

Mr. Hunter is the son of former Council member, Nancy Hunter. Another quick web search reveals that he moved back to Asheboro about five years ago, and served on the Asheboro 20/20 planning committee. My main concern about that is that he probably has had too much of the Koolaid Randolph Hospital CEO, Bob Morrison, was serving when he chaired that committee.

-Dave Whitaker, a local businessman, focused on bringing economic activity to Asheboro.

There's not much on the Internet about "Big Dave". But another two-second web search pulled up this little ditty:

Whitaker said the major issue of the campaign is attracting new industry to Asheboro. He said that with Asheboro resident and former councilman Keith Crisco now serving at state Commerce secretary, he hopes the council will work with Crisco to get an inside track on businesses looking to locate in North Carolina.

First, IMHO, anyone bragging about their ties to Keith Crisco needs to be kept at arms length.

Second, I wonder how all of the other town council members in North Carolina (whose towns are all hurting in some fashion) would feel about North Carolina's Commerce Secretary showing Asheboro special favors . . . and Asheboro's City Council memebers being so blatant about working that "inside track"?

This is a very important election! City elections are often decided by a tiny fragment of the population. Please vote in this primary and help these candidates. It is time to continue the progess we started last summer. Join us today.

If you would like to be removed from this list, please reply (not reply all) and we will gladly remove you. We hope you will be willing to receive additional information on the candidates and voting opportunities as we approach the general election.

Sincerely,

Brooke Schmidly

One more thought. It seems to me to be a HUGE conflict of interest for our Miss Brooke to be endorsing one candidate or group of candidates for City Council over another - given that she was appointed to the local Alcoholic Beverage Control Board by vote of the City Council.

Our Miss Brooke is trying to stack the deck.

For her future. Not yours. Not mine.

*10/12 Author's note: As I've heard from folks who have read this post, I've tweaked it - and added additional thoughts.

Obama And The Nobel: The Velveteen Rabbit Gets Ahead Of Himself

The thing I like most about Ocrakoke Island is its disconnection from the rest of the world. Yeah, they might have wireless Internet in some of the motel lobbies now, but who really gives a rip?

My car is absolutely nasty - covered in dead bugs and full of sand.

For lack of a better description, Ocracoke is a very "real" place. Very, very real. And it's a glorious chore to get there and back.

But I'm back . . . although today's beyond-surreal headline made me want to turn around and get back on the ferry. At first, I thought the headline was a way-bad joke. I wondered, has this world gone completely nuts?

For in the battle of style vs. substance, substance just took a hard left to the jaw.

Of course, these are the same bunch of snotty geniuses who bestowed their hallowed "prize" on Yasser Arafat in 1994.

That pretty much did it for me and the proselytes of Alfred Nobel (who, ironically, invented dynamite . . . but unlike poor GW, nobody is kicking him in the leg).

The reporting says it all:

Rather than recognizing concrete achievement, the 2009 prize appeared intended to support initiatives that have yet to bear fruit . . .

How very progressive. But being one of those (apparently misguided) results-oriented saps, I really do wonder what might happen in this world if concrete achievement . . . in governing/politics . . . in business . . . in medicine . . . in journalism . . . et cetera . . . once again became the measure of success . . .

. . . and the reason awards were bestowed?

On the national & world scene, Obama is like a bright shiny new Velveteen Rabbit. But even children understand that it took a lot of time and love and suffering and hard work for the Rabbit to become real.

This is rather like skipping ahead to the end of the book and assuming the ending will be happy.

Dr. Mary Salutes Greg Gabbard And Lake Norman Bath (Subtitled, "Ain't Gonna Be Behaving Any Time Soon!")

Every now and then I have to be jolted back to my purpose here.

Last Friday, I watched Fec (an exceptional writer, albeit an acquired taste, whom I've grown quite fond of) have a beautiful meltdown - spectacularly and brutally telling off Edward Cone and Roch Smith, Jr.

In my mind's eye, I could see a number of folk in the local blogosphere (especially on the more conservative side of the aisle) standing up and cheering, Hallelujah!

I was reminded of a scene from "300": This IS Sparta! And I felt a glimmer of hope for "Blogsboro".

Alas, less than a week later, Cone and Roch, hats in hand (and with Sue in tow), were at Via De Malchance, smugly critiquing the the style of that magnificent experiment in citizen journalism, Lake Norman Bath . . . as opposed to paying homage to its substance . . . and the RESULTS that blog has wrought.

Indeed, I myself got caught up in some of the LNB drama, when John Mayhew dropped a comment on Housecalls that showcased his hypocrisy. Dr. Mary is not as desperate as he thought.

I dropped a comment on Fec's thread:

Ah, the GSO blogging experts weigh in – albeit not about the substance of the post. I think LNB is doing just fine. Greg had a message and he’s gotten it out.

And he’s told me that his primary inspiration has been Fec The Terrible & Dr. J.

Speaking as someone who bought into the citizen journalism crapola you two (and JR) were dishing out four years ago, the biggest difference between Greg’s blogging situation and mine is that he actually has a local newspaper that’s interested in reporting the news – as opposed to sucking up to the powers-that-be, and deciding what’s “relevant” or not based on an agenda.

Fec offered this:

Dr. J., I’d like you to consider the notion that neither Roch nor Ed bear any malice toward you. Consider the forgiveness they’ve shown in appearing here so soon after my terrible conduct. Peace is a precious thing and something I wish for you.

Taken aback, (I really had to blink):

I don’t believe that Fec, you know it and you know why.

As we’ve also previously discussed, this is not a hobby or a game with me (much as is the case with Greg – we have a whole lot in common). My blog is about justice denied – it is about my life – my home – my career – my family. And these days, it’s pretty *&^%$#@!( relevant!

“No malice” means fellow bloggers . . . so-called citizen journalists . . . play fair (notice Roch’s response here – completely ignoring the point I made – as if I am not here). They never have. I”ve been de-linked, banned, marginalized and generally crapped-upon because I don’t drink the same Koolaid and I threaten the status quo.

My situation could have been resolved YEARS ago if JR and Cone had been what they said they were. They’re useless windbags.

And they cannot figure out why most people avoid this online community like the plague?

So from the cheap seats where Cones don’t sit, cheap grace isn’t going to cut it.

I’m sure you already know it, but in the eyes of many (who were no doubt standing up and singing “Hallelujah!”), your “terrible conduct” was a long time coming. It was thing of beauty.

This post – your post – is not about the technical aspects of a blog/website – it’s about the successful results that blog has wrought.

And those successful results are, because (as you point out), the folks at LNB have a real newspaper in their backyard – as opposed to stinky fishwrap full of holes.

Oh, and LNB did it without the help of the so-called blogging geniuses back-handedly trashing their blog (wanting to appear “helpful”) here.

Honestly, I felt totally sucker-punched (once again) . . . and completely faked out. I've spent most of the day fighting back tears any time I stopped to think about the time I've spent . . . wasted really . . . trying to make inroads to this "community".

All of the usual suspects chimed in . . . Roch, in particular, was Roach.

And then my hero, Greg Gabbard, offered a simple, "Hi, Dr. J" . . . with a smiley face. It was balm on a wounded soul.

I responded to the online friend I've never met:

Hey Greg. Congratulations.

What you’ve accomplished – with a blog and and a decent newspaper and an online “community” that rallied behind you and your “one track venom” rather than doing everything it could to rip you to shreds – more than makes my point about the omnipotent GSO blogging triumvirate of Cone/Smith, Jr./Polinski (with a little JR mixed in).

It’s all about them and what they want. Pretty much always has been.

Fec, this reader is going to bow out from Vie de Malchance for a while.

You-all can continue to talk amongst yourselves.

I saw Fec's last comment when I went back for links.

So now I've got to "behave"?

What a colossal joke. Oh, and fat chance.

This leads me to an absolutely spectacular article (ironically from a print magazine) which more than makes the case that newspapers . . . the kinds that long ago sold out their readers to to the highest bidder . . . ala my own "hometown" papers, the Courier Tribune and Greensboro News & Record . . . need to die. And die quickly - so as to decrease their surplus population.

It's hilarious to hear these folks puff themselves up with talk about being the Fourth Estate, performing some valuable public service for readers—when in fact the real customer has always been the advertiser, not the reader. That truth has been laid bare in recent years. As soon as papers got desperate for cash, they dropped their "sacred principles" as readily as a call girl sheds her clothes. Ads on the front page? Reporters assigned to write sponsored content? No problem.

You can read the rest of the article. I whole-heartedly agree with its premise. Newspapers do not need to be bailed out or salvaged. They need to move into this century, and evolve beyond the tired, old models that clearly do not work.

Because if the "free press" did work, this country would not be in the deep, deep hole of CRAP that it's in now.

The Internet - and bloggers big & small - are where the future is - and where real truth can be found - right now.

Indeed, during this transitional period, when blogs and good newspapers work together to stamp out corruption, it can be a beautiful thing.

It is what I aspired to four years ago - when I answered a call to "citizen journalism" - from a guy who could use some refresher courses at journalism school. I hope still to get there - although it is likely going to take another lawsuit to do it.

I suppose it will be news then.

Meanwhile, the folks at Lake Norman Bath, unhindered by other bloggers tearing them down or telling them what to do, got there first.

And I sincerely salute them.

I also hereby tender my resignation as Fec The Terrible's Surgeon General. Dr. Mary has left the realm.

For I can offer no "earth & water" to Cone and company. And the "king" I thought I served would not either.

I have one more post in me - up tomorrow - then I am taking a bit of a blogging break. I've got some time-off coming up and will be very busy with that life Ms. Polinsky doesn't think I have. The only things I plan to post in October are those long-ago letters of support from the parents of my former patients at Randolph Medical Associates - a project I started a short while ago and did not finish.

I don't expect Randolph Hospital will consider it within the realm of "behaving".

Like I said. No earth. No water.

How's That Deep Blue Koolaid Going Down Now?

For anyone who did not drink the deep-deep blue Koolaid in this blogosphere over the last few years, and has been pummeled for it, it just gets better and better.

Of course, if they do put Sleazely under Oath, and he lies, so what?

I mean, it hasn't mattered AT ALL that Randolph Hospital's senior executives did it.

I loved the quote from the Politico article on John Edwards's relationship with his "butt-boy"-turned-future-best-selling-author (wanna bet he out-sells Liz?), Andrew Young:

"(the) relationship tapped into the worst of both sides: Young’s boundless attraction to power — and the Edwardses’ ease in using him."

Using him. Well, duh. That's all those two know how to do.

“ . . . there would always be a place for him (Young) as long as John and Elizabeth didn’t want to get their hands dirty and deal with the painters and yard people and get their own groceries.”

Or lie about the paternity of John's love-child.

I expect some people are choking on their KoolAid now. And I absolutelyfricking love it.

The Raleigh N&O: Let's Ask The Student Who Wants To Be A Kid Doctor - Not An Actual Kid Doctor

This fall, the Raleigh News & Observer is talking to people about the nation's health-care system, what works, what doesn't and what should be done to fix it.

Today, one of the articles in that series featured a fourth year medical student at (you guessed it) UNC-Chapel Hill who wants to be a children's doctor.

She enjoys working with kids.

Well, I hope so. But she is in for a rude awakening if she thinks that's all its about.

As a child, she spent months in the hospital after being diagnosed with a rare kidney disorder. In later years, she switched doctors as her family switched insurance companies, something she keeps in mind as she thinks of reforming the nation's health-care system.

Yeah, I know the feeling. When I was five, I had a tonsillectomy at Randolph Hospital. The job was botched so badly that I had to have reconstructive surgery years later (while in college). My family, ordinary folk, never even considered suing.

Part of my motivation for (1) choosing Pediatrics, and (2) ultimately coming home, was to prevent something like that from happening to another child.

In fact, years later, employed as a Pediatrician by the non-profit hospital's "controlled affiliate", suffering from recurrent sinus infections and severe facial pain, I elected to have sinus surgery at Randolph. Part of the motivation to have the surgery at Randolph was to encourage parents to consider staying in Asheboro for their ENT procedures. If I trusted the hospital, why shouldn't they?

The job was botched. A diagnosis was missed. I had to have corrective surgery again.

With Randolph Hospital, it seems no good deed goes unpunished.

Although sorely tempted, I didn't sue then either.

The article goes on to offer the future Dr. Chasnovitz's opinion on what reform needs to be.

In addition to an optional government-run insurance program, she hopes the government spends more money on basic, clinical research. She thinks the implementation of electronic medical records, with some guidelines and oversight from the federal government, could improve efficiency among care providers.

I have news for her. The government is not going to have any money left for basic clinical research if President Obama (someone who has no clue what he's talking about a good portion of the time) has his way. EMR is already here - and not exactly the panacea it was cracked up to be. And the bit about government oversight was just the pure naivete of a newbie.

I dropped a comment (modified slightly here) on the thread:

Instead of interviewing a medical student with next-to-no "real world" experience in the "reforms" she advocates ("for the children"), maybe the N&O should be talking to a Board-certified Pediatrician who got burned in public service - one who had to go on the road to make ends meet while she fought a legal battle that she NEVER SHOULD HAVE HAD TO HAVE FOUGHT had ANYONE in an OVERSIGHT position done what they were supposed to do . . . one who has worked all over this state and can speak to the good/bad/ugly reality of "access" and "accountability" and "transparency" in medicine.

Really, at this point, the cold shoulder is not just a journalistic cop-out.

It's stupid, short-sighted, irresponsible and dangerous.

I absolutely LOVED "ThoughtCrimes" comment (which preceded mine):

Editor's note: As always, The N&O is presenting semi-fictitious stories from carefully selected people to promote a Natzional Socialist health-care system . . . Ignoring what works, promoting what doesn't and what should be done to f-it up. (I'm The Obama, and I approved this propaganda . . . And soon, I'll natzionalize this failing paper.)

Honestly, when are these damned journalists at their dying newspapers (not to mention the medical educators holding the "forums") going to wake up and start talking to (and writing about) the people who are in the trenches NOW?

I intend no disrespect to the future Dr. Chasnovitz - she's earned her hood and I wish her well even as I believe the system she's entering into is shortly going to crumble down around her naive and trusting head. But this was the biggest "non-story" I've ever seen.

Sayeth the N&O: Let's not talk to a doctor with considerable way-beyond-bad experience in the very systems we're talking about expanding - a doctor who has been blogging about it for six years - a doctor who has been pleading for help . . . and real reform.

Let's ask a medical student with NO experience what she thinks.

Fluff.