The NC Legislature Is Re-Writing The Medical Practice Act To Screw meMeME (Some More)

Intrigued by a recent article in the News & Record . . . a story framed around a "broad bill that would codify and clean up several laws regarding the practice of medicine in North Carolina" . . . I contacted Mark Binker for the details.

I also told Mark I was glad he did not get fired.

As we will shortly get to, "clean up" is an interesting term.

According to the N&R's story, "the bill's most notable components would increase the number of people who can hear medical license suspension and revocation cases. It also would allow more information about the outcome of cases to be shared with the patient who made the original complaint".

As I understand the article, legislative supporters of the death penalty have proposed an amendment to this bill (already bouncing around) specifying that assistance given by doctors in executions "shall not be cause for any disciplinary or corrective measures by the North Carolina Medical Board."

As most folks know, the North Carolina Medical Board fairly recently (and about a hundred years belatedly) hopped on the ethics train and decided that a physician participating in an execution (in any fashion) flies in the face of that bit about first doing no harm. The Board ruled that doctors can be disciplined if they participate in an execution.

Until executions in North Carolina were placed on hold, prison doctors had been doing a tight-wire act around the Medical Board's edict and judges' orders.

Now the lawyers are duking it out (of course, we all know that some of the condemned could be dead by natural causes before the courts take any action). Some legislators are getting impatient.

"What we have in this case is a unelected group of people totally thwarting the will of the people," said Rep. David Lewis, R-Harnett, who offered the amendment.

Just to be clear, the "unelected group of people" that Representative Lewis is referring to is the NC Medical Board . . . that god-like collection of gubernatorial-appointees (with the tight NC Medical Society connections) in which the "will of the (apparently very bloodthirsty) people" has otherwise invested complete trust to regulate the practice of medicine.

The Medical Board can do no wrong.

Mark e-mailed me a link to the bill (House Bill 818/S 864) this morning. He summed it up pretty well (and I hope he doesn't get mad at me for publishing the content of an e-mail): Real roughly, the legislature delegated the authority to regulate doctors to the medical board. Because it's a creature of the state, the legislature can change the rules by which it operates at will. Looks like Lewis' amendment would simply prevent the medical board from punishing a doctor who takes part in an execution by taking away their medical license or other means.

It's an elegant solution as far as it goes. The medical board could still have a policy that says its unethical for doctors to participate in killing people, so the question would be whether any docs would be willing to cross that line, even knowing they wouldn't be punished.

This bill is "notable" all right. Here's the thing: It's NOT just a little "clean-up" measure. It's a pretty much a TOTAL REWRITE of the current Medical Practice Act . . . as it was rewritten barely a year ago.

And here's the thing about that. In a letter to the North Carolina Medical Board this past February (that's four months ago to anyone who is counting), I cited a "carved in stone" passage of the current Medical Practice Act to the Board and its Chief Legal Eagle (Thomas Mansfield) as a mechanism to refer my case against Randolph Hospital Executives (for perjury, contempt, and fraud) to the NC Attorney General's Office for investigation and prosecution.

Perjury has no statue of limitations in North Carolina.

NC General Statute 90-16(h) currently states, “if investigative information in the possession of the Board, its employees, or agents indicates that a crime may have been committed, the Board SHALL; report the information to the appropriate law enforcement agency.”

Now in my case, one can make the very compelling argument that the "appropriate law enforcement agency" is that of the NC Attorney General (the same guy who rescued the Duke boys) . . . seeing as he is the lawyer representing the NC Department of Health and Human Services . . . which oversees the NC Department of Rural Health . . . which paid out loan repayment (public funds) to help bring me home to Asheboro.

You see, I was still in NC and Federal public service when I was told to keep my mouth shut or else. Never mind what was best for the patients that we doctors are supposed to serve and protect. Gotta be the "team player" and tow that corporate bottom line. Amen, Cara to your observation that "people who don’t care about people shouldn’t be serving in positions that call for them to care about people".

But answer me this: What do those people do when they are stomped on for the caring?

The public's investment subsequently went down the toilet when I was driven out of my own hometown to serve the best corporate interests of Randolph Hospital.

At the time, the state of North Carolina could have cared less.

Of course, Mr. Cooper may have his hands full shortly, defending the Department(s) in regards to shenanigans of Tork Wade.

As I pointed out in the correspondence, 90-16(h), as written, does NOT specifically & only apply to physicians. It says that if the Medical Board has evidence of criminal conduct in its possession, it SHALL refer the matter to appropriate law enforcement agencies. It does not say this will happen only if Thomas Mansfield wants it to . . . or on the third Tuesday in November every second year (serving the political agendas that apparently fuel perjury trials).

It says the Medical Board SHALL refer the matter to the proper authorities.

Just like NC General Statute 14-209 (SubChapter VIII, Article 28) says that lying under Oath about matters relevant to a damages claim (in ANY court venue, and in ANY deposition or affidavit) IS PERJURY and SHALL be prosecuted as a Class F felony.

It doesn't say only when Garland Yates wants to prosecute.

The NC Medical Board has long had in its possession black & white evidence that Randolph Hospital administrators committed crimes as they attempted to silence and destroy a physician for doing her duty . . . then swindle her of fair restitution after she dragged them to trial.

I copied that letter to dozens of legislators, all the state Medical Societies and the NC Attorney General. To date, I have yet to get a single substantive response.

But I suppose this IS my response. The North Carolina legislature . . . run by "good-ole-boys" who have winked and nodded at nasty/amoral/illegal everything that has been done to me (as a public servant wronged) for over nine years . . . has completely IGNORED my pleas for help.

Not a single response! Not even from my "representatives". Not from Brubaker. Not from Tillman. Not from Hurley.

Everything about current law says I am right and Bob Morrison/Steven Eblin were wrong. Criminally, punishably wrong. Everything about current law says that I have the right, as a public servant swindled out of civil "justice", to see this case referred for proper investigation and prosecution. The NC Constitution says that I have the right, as a victim of these crimes, to expect proper restitution . . . restitution I was denied when Bob Morrison and Steven Eblin lied under Oath and negotiated a settlement upon the lies (the legal concept is called bad faith).

The state of North Carolina has had more than enough time to act, and its agents have acted with nothing but reckless disregard for the law!

Instead of enforcing the law as it is written, the NC legislature is quietly re-writing the law to make life easier for Thomas ("I'm sorry I can't help you with your problems, Dr. Johnson.") Mansfield and Roy Cooper . . . much easier for them to let Robert Morrison and Steven Eblin off the hook.

Again.

Here's the re-write: (i) If investigative information in the possession of the Board, its employees, or agents indicates that a crime may have been committed, the Board may report the information to the appropriate law enforcement agency or district attorney of the district in which the offense was committed.

The re-write makes it possible to broaden the Board's discretion (something the current law does not allow it to do) and turf my case back to Garland Yates . . . so he can ignore it some more!

All Thomas Mansfield and his Medical Board has to do is twiddle thumbs and pretend I don't exist (something they're very, very good at) until the law is changed.

It gives "clean up" a whole new meaning!

Mike Nifong gets busted bigtime for overzealous prosecution. But those of us burned by underzealous prosecution don't get the happy endings. In that case, "protecting the public from violations of ethics" doesn't matter so much to the Bar.

Here's what's happening folks: The Medical Practice Act is being re-written specifically to deny me justice! My letter most certainly got Mr. Mansfield's attention. And rather than answer it with a simple referral to the Attorney General's office . . . that would result in a criminal investigation of a small-town hospital's less-than-charitable activities, he'd rather change the law!

It's not my imagination (Roch). And it's being done quietly, under the table, without responding to my February 2007 correspondence!

For all of the GSO bloggers out there who have revelled in dumping on me and calling me names, these are the FACTS (Sue). This is how the world really works.

And this one IS about me.

Oh, and HELLO! This is a another case where bloggers could make a tremendous difference. This is where you could be . . . what is the word Edward likes to use? . . . "relevant". This is where you could actually take the LEAD on a local story that has played out right under your (mostly up-turned) noses . . . a story your good buddy JR has blown off.

I shouldn't have to "audition". And you don't have to like me (or my John Edwards-hating politics). All you have to do is care about justice for all.

Of course, I won't be holding my breath.

You know what I don't see in this bill? With doctor shortages looming on North Carolina's horizon, I don't see anything about protecting medical whistle-blowers from the kind of retaliation I suffered . . . nothing about protecting and defending the duties the Board requires. I don't see anything that protects young/inexperienced doctors in public service from corporate greed. I don't see anything about cracking down on hospitals that use antiquated "employment at will" laws to stomp all over physicians. I don't see anything that holds hospitals accountable to the same ethical and moral standards as physicians. I don't see a lot of due process guarantees in medical peer & Board review that might assist physicians falsely accused (in fact, I see due process eroding).

And while I do appreciate the notion that complainants should get more feedback about the complaints they file (seeing as I couldn't get the time of day from the Board in terms of what they didn't do about what happened in Asheboro), I definitely don't see anything that gives patients more power to fight back when they're injured by bad medicine.

I (for &^%$#* sure) don't see anything about tort reform.

But HEY! Let's tack on that amendment, and make sure the doctors won't be punished if they help the state KILL PEOPLE in a timely fashion!

That is what these legislators really care about.