This story - about lawyers & court employees in Johnston County busted for fixing tickets - amuses me. It really does.
And this caught my eye: The indictments Monday cap a yearlong investigation by agents from the State Bureau of Investigation who specialize in professional misconduct.
What is Garland Yates' treatment of my case against Randolph Hospital executives except the ultimate ticket fix? I've been asking for an independent investigation by the state since 2003. I've not even been allowed to swear out a complaint. I'd called that habitual intemperance - and professional misconduct. Where is Law & Order Roy? Where is the SBI?
Tuesday, March 31, 2009
Do You Want To Know Who Really "Destroyed" Pediatrics In Asheboro . . . And What To Do About It?
My Fox-hating friend called tonight to chat. He's still put out about Randolph Hospital's new "Hollywood" TV spot. But that's not the reason he called. He wanted to warn me about the latest pro-hospital spin wafting through the community . . . a stench clearly emanating from the executives offices of Randolph Hospital (we've both heard it from separate sources):
"Mary Johnson destroyed Pediatrics in Asheboro."
Now, that actually translates to: It's very difficult to recruit new doctors to town, when with the click of a mouse, they can pull up a take-no-prisoners blog . . . authored by a local doctor who signs her name . . . that tells the ugly story of how Randolph treated Pediatricians who came before . . . a story Randolph has only wanted to bury and cover-up from day one.
Of course, the notion that I "destroyed" Pediatrics in my hometown is just laughable . . . but the "pity-the-poor-hospital" spin is, sadly, quite predictable. Moreover, it's been addressed before on this blog.
The unforgivable sin that Mary Johnson actually committed was to fight back when two over-rated, over-paid hospital executives destroyed/absorbed her Pediatric practice and viciously attacked her professional reputation & ability to make a living locally.
When you think about it, Dr. Mary Johnson is really no different from a Bernie Madoff investor. She came home. She made an enormous fiscal, personal and emotional investment in Asheboro. But she's not supposed to be nail-spitting mad about her employment & government contracts being breached . . . or being thrown out on the street for doing her job the way it was supposed to be done. She's not supposed to be the least bit put out because she was forced to fight off a bogus "libel" lawsuit . . . filed to humiliate her . . . and intimidate her into silence . . . after she dared tell the government she served the truth. And now she's supposed to roll over and die (after all, she's just a "rich" doctor) even though she was swindled at settlement by perjury, contempt and fraud.
The powers-that-be just never expected the lowly "nobody" to fight back - or hang so tough.
Here's the thing that the Randolph Hospital Board members who continue to employ Bob Morrison and Steven Eblin (along with any of the local businessmen/politicians who still shield, protect and make excuses for them) do not get: The first thing any smart, savvy young-gun in Pediatric training these days is going to do when checking out a new location/new job is Google Asheboro/Randolph County/Randolph Hospital/RMA/Pediatrics/and yes, even Dr. Mary Johnson.
You see, despite Steve Eblin's theory that "good Pediatricians are a dime a dozen", these bright-eyed newbies have years and hundreds-of-thousands of dollars invested in their training, and they don't need to go anywhere where their service and contributions are not valued and appreciated.
A few page loads of my blog, and Eblin's once-snazzy sales pitch is DOA and in file 13.
The whole Asheboro is dying thing probably doesn't help either. I had nothing to do with that.
Mary Johnson simply found a way to keep these Pediatric newbies from falling for the same lines and into the same trap she did. She does not want anyone else with talent and integrity and high hopes and dreams and great promise to sign contracts with Bob Morrison and Steven Eblin under the mistaken notion that the management of Randolph Hospital can be trusted, or that those contracts will be honored.
And she makes NO APOLOGIES for it.
Moreover, what residency director with a soul or a conscience is going to send one of his grads to Asheboro, while the same executives who did previous grads dirty are still running the show?
Make no mistake, the two people who "destroyed" Pediatrics in Asheboro are Robert Morrison and Steven Eblin . . . and (incredibly) they are still employed by Randolph Hospital. Their expensive services have always been deemed more important that those of the the doctors (not just Pediatricians) they drummed out of town.
If the parents now standing in line with their kids at the Merce Clinic have any questions about that, they need to direct them to the Board members who still employ these corporate bullies.
You see, instead of allowing good/dedicated Pediatricians (who had worked hard and wanted to stay) to transition and the specialty to evolve fairly in a free market, Bob and Steve had to control and/or "own" everything and everyone. And when they could not do that, they lied and cheated to get their way.
In their case, the lying and cheating crossed the line into criminal behavior . . . multiple felonies.
Yes, Randolph Hospital has a reputation. It has a reputation because Dr. Mary Johnson is not the only doctor the hospital has managed to screw over during the medical-management-terrorist regime of Bob Morrison & Steven Eblin.
Mary Johnson is just the only one who fought back. Because some things are worth fighting for.
So. If anyone really wants to "fix" Pediatrics in Asheboro, here's a suggestion:
Fire Morrison and Eblin FOR CAUSE. See that they are prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law for their perjury, contempt, fraud and obstruction of civil justice. Now full prosecution would involve jail time. But if they want to avoid that, they and the hospital that condoned every single nasty thing they did (and, in truth, should be sanctioned by the state for it) can, (1) offer an unconditional apology, and (2) negotiate a plea bargain through the DA and/or (preferably) the NC Attorney General's office . . . in which Dr. Johnson is finally fully and fairly compensated for her considerable losses (after ELEVEN YEARS of what can only be described as mill-town bovine barnyard excrement).
I'd actually be very happy to see Bob & Steve doing thousands of hours of community service . . . cleaning toilets at the jail . . . or serving as an example to local schoolchildren that crime does not pay.
And OBTW, Randolph Hospital needs to make sure that a large chunk of any fiscal compensation offered to Dr. Johnson in a plea bargain comes not out of the hospital's operating budget, but is forfeited from the parachutes and retirement cushions Morrison and Eblin no doubt have waiting for them when their long & illustrious careers in Asheboro (spent selling primary care - especially Pediatrics - way short) are over.
The only language Bob and Steve ever understood was money. Let them understand just how wrong they were.
They are a cancer on Asheboro's medical landscape and it's far past the time they were cut out.
Once all of that is done, I would then suggest that Randolph Hospital agressively market that it has turned over a new leaf . . . one that does not include lying to patients, cheating & stealing from doctors, or manipulating the general public. They probably need to focus a little bit more on the basics . . . on delivering good primary care.
It also would be nice if the Courier could crawl out of their butt . . . if the paper had the guts or journalistic integrity to say, we'll support you when you're right, but you're toast when you're wrong.
You might be surprised at what these things might do for Pediatric recruitment. And who knows? "Dr. Mary" might even consider coming back someday and helping repair the damage Bob & Steve did to her hometown.
Part Three of my new series from the legal files is still under composition - I'm sorry for the delay, but it's a tough one to work through intellectually and emotionally. I've been sitting on it/mulling it all over for well over a week. We are going to talk about the night Dr. Mary Johnson defied Bob Morrison and Steven Eblin . . . and made a decision that forever changed/disrupted her life.
But you know what? This doctor will still take the Christmas Card she gets every year ANY DAY over selling her soul to please Bob & Steve.
We're going to talk about who destroyed what and why. We're going to talk about the cover-up.
Maybe, just maybe, someone in Bev Perdue's office . . . or Barack Obama's . . . is reading.
Real healthcare reform is not just about giving patients everything they want in terms of coverage and access. It's about returning the practice of medicine to doctors. So that what happened to Mary Johnson eleven years ago . . . what happened to Asheboro . . . cannot ever happen again.
Wednesday Morning Update: Had a good night sleep. Tweaked the post this morning. Additions in bold blue.
"Mary Johnson destroyed Pediatrics in Asheboro."
Now, that actually translates to: It's very difficult to recruit new doctors to town, when with the click of a mouse, they can pull up a take-no-prisoners blog . . . authored by a local doctor who signs her name . . . that tells the ugly story of how Randolph treated Pediatricians who came before . . . a story Randolph has only wanted to bury and cover-up from day one.
Of course, the notion that I "destroyed" Pediatrics in my hometown is just laughable . . . but the "pity-the-poor-hospital" spin is, sadly, quite predictable. Moreover, it's been addressed before on this blog.
The unforgivable sin that Mary Johnson actually committed was to fight back when two over-rated, over-paid hospital executives destroyed/absorbed her Pediatric practice and viciously attacked her professional reputation & ability to make a living locally.
When you think about it, Dr. Mary Johnson is really no different from a Bernie Madoff investor. She came home. She made an enormous fiscal, personal and emotional investment in Asheboro. But she's not supposed to be nail-spitting mad about her employment & government contracts being breached . . . or being thrown out on the street for doing her job the way it was supposed to be done. She's not supposed to be the least bit put out because she was forced to fight off a bogus "libel" lawsuit . . . filed to humiliate her . . . and intimidate her into silence . . . after she dared tell the government she served the truth. And now she's supposed to roll over and die (after all, she's just a "rich" doctor) even though she was swindled at settlement by perjury, contempt and fraud.
But the state of Pediatrics as a speciality in Asheboro is her fault. Tell me another good one!
Meanwhile, a lot of people charge with oversight . . . people who should have known better . . . people who should have/could have stopped what was happening . . . looked the other way. They go by important names like Kinlaw and Stout and Scott and Crisco and Haywood and Bossong and Redding. I know I've left many out, but you get the general drift.The powers-that-be just never expected the lowly "nobody" to fight back - or hang so tough.
Here's the thing that the Randolph Hospital Board members who continue to employ Bob Morrison and Steven Eblin (along with any of the local businessmen/politicians who still shield, protect and make excuses for them) do not get: The first thing any smart, savvy young-gun in Pediatric training these days is going to do when checking out a new location/new job is Google Asheboro/Randolph County/Randolph Hospital/RMA/Pediatrics/and yes, even Dr. Mary Johnson.
You see, despite Steve Eblin's theory that "good Pediatricians are a dime a dozen", these bright-eyed newbies have years and hundreds-of-thousands of dollars invested in their training, and they don't need to go anywhere where their service and contributions are not valued and appreciated.
A few page loads of my blog, and Eblin's once-snazzy sales pitch is DOA and in file 13.
The whole Asheboro is dying thing probably doesn't help either. I had nothing to do with that.
Mary Johnson simply found a way to keep these Pediatric newbies from falling for the same lines and into the same trap she did. She does not want anyone else with talent and integrity and high hopes and dreams and great promise to sign contracts with Bob Morrison and Steven Eblin under the mistaken notion that the management of Randolph Hospital can be trusted, or that those contracts will be honored.
And she makes NO APOLOGIES for it.
Moreover, what residency director with a soul or a conscience is going to send one of his grads to Asheboro, while the same executives who did previous grads dirty are still running the show?
Make no mistake, the two people who "destroyed" Pediatrics in Asheboro are Robert Morrison and Steven Eblin . . . and (incredibly) they are still employed by Randolph Hospital. Their expensive services have always been deemed more important that those of the the doctors (not just Pediatricians) they drummed out of town.
If the parents now standing in line with their kids at the Merce Clinic have any questions about that, they need to direct them to the Board members who still employ these corporate bullies.
You see, instead of allowing good/dedicated Pediatricians (who had worked hard and wanted to stay) to transition and the specialty to evolve fairly in a free market, Bob and Steve had to control and/or "own" everything and everyone. And when they could not do that, they lied and cheated to get their way.
In their case, the lying and cheating crossed the line into criminal behavior . . . multiple felonies.
Yes, Randolph Hospital has a reputation. It has a reputation because Dr. Mary Johnson is not the only doctor the hospital has managed to screw over during the medical-management-terrorist regime of Bob Morrison & Steven Eblin.
Mary Johnson is just the only one who fought back. Because some things are worth fighting for.
So. If anyone really wants to "fix" Pediatrics in Asheboro, here's a suggestion:
Fire Morrison and Eblin FOR CAUSE. See that they are prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law for their perjury, contempt, fraud and obstruction of civil justice. Now full prosecution would involve jail time. But if they want to avoid that, they and the hospital that condoned every single nasty thing they did (and, in truth, should be sanctioned by the state for it) can, (1) offer an unconditional apology, and (2) negotiate a plea bargain through the DA and/or (preferably) the NC Attorney General's office . . . in which Dr. Johnson is finally fully and fairly compensated for her considerable losses (after ELEVEN YEARS of what can only be described as mill-town bovine barnyard excrement).
I'd actually be very happy to see Bob & Steve doing thousands of hours of community service . . . cleaning toilets at the jail . . . or serving as an example to local schoolchildren that crime does not pay.
And OBTW, Randolph Hospital needs to make sure that a large chunk of any fiscal compensation offered to Dr. Johnson in a plea bargain comes not out of the hospital's operating budget, but is forfeited from the parachutes and retirement cushions Morrison and Eblin no doubt have waiting for them when their long & illustrious careers in Asheboro (spent selling primary care - especially Pediatrics - way short) are over.
The only language Bob and Steve ever understood was money. Let them understand just how wrong they were.
They are a cancer on Asheboro's medical landscape and it's far past the time they were cut out.
Once all of that is done, I would then suggest that Randolph Hospital agressively market that it has turned over a new leaf . . . one that does not include lying to patients, cheating & stealing from doctors, or manipulating the general public. They probably need to focus a little bit more on the basics . . . on delivering good primary care.
It also would be nice if the Courier could crawl out of their butt . . . if the paper had the guts or journalistic integrity to say, we'll support you when you're right, but you're toast when you're wrong.
You might be surprised at what these things might do for Pediatric recruitment. And who knows? "Dr. Mary" might even consider coming back someday and helping repair the damage Bob & Steve did to her hometown.
Part Three of my new series from the legal files is still under composition - I'm sorry for the delay, but it's a tough one to work through intellectually and emotionally. I've been sitting on it/mulling it all over for well over a week. We are going to talk about the night Dr. Mary Johnson defied Bob Morrison and Steven Eblin . . . and made a decision that forever changed/disrupted her life.
But you know what? This doctor will still take the Christmas Card she gets every year ANY DAY over selling her soul to please Bob & Steve.
We're going to talk about who destroyed what and why. We're going to talk about the cover-up.
Maybe, just maybe, someone in Bev Perdue's office . . . or Barack Obama's . . . is reading.
Real healthcare reform is not just about giving patients everything they want in terms of coverage and access. It's about returning the practice of medicine to doctors. So that what happened to Mary Johnson eleven years ago . . . what happened to Asheboro . . . cannot ever happen again.
Wednesday Morning Update: Had a good night sleep. Tweaked the post this morning. Additions in bold blue.
Fox 8 Is Most Definitely Not On Your Side, News 2 Does Not Really Want To Know, And Bev Didn't Send An Invite
N.C. Governor Beverly Perdue is hosting a healthcare reform meeting in Greensboro today. I'm sure it will be the toast of the town . . . and that all of the left-leaning N.C. news outlets will swoon over every word uttered at the latest state-sponsored dog & pony show.
Obama has all the answers. Especially when the questions are fixed.
I cannot attend as I am on-call down East. And despite dropping a number of hints on this blog (which I know is being read by folks in Raleigh & Washington), I was not invited . . . so I could tell my current employer that the Governor invited me to a big important meeting on healthcare reform . . . could they please find me a sub for today?
What do you want to bet that Bob Morrison and/or Steven Eblin will be front and center at Bev's latest party?
Of course, Bev doesn't really want to hear what I think. She never has. More to the point, she doesn't want other people to hear either. You see, it would be "embarrassing" . . . especially for people like Keith Crisco (now in her administration) . . . local leaders well-practiced at turning a deaf ear (Keith's not the only one) in order to protect their very important friends running Randolph Hospital from the consequences of their actions.
I mean, I've known and respected Stan Haywood for years - he and his wife, Hope, were good friends to my Mama when she was in working as a teacher in the school system. But like Keith and other Asheboro/Randolph County leaders . . . and like the big-gun doctors at the hospital (Jim Kinlaw, Bob Scott, Charles Stout, the rest) . . . he simply turned a blind eye and a deaf ear when Irene's daughter was professionally robbed, raped and left for dead by Bob Morrison & company.
City Council members and County Commissioners don't have to care when public money is wasted and good Pediatricians are drummed out of town. They've always said it was not their concern . . . or jurisdiction. But hey, they have their fingers on the pulse of the community.
So I have to roll my eyes and groan when I read stuff like this in the local weekly:
“Government needs to stay out of the lives of we citizens,” he said. “We can govern ourselves better than they can. We know we can do better than the communists in Washington."
Actually, NO Stan. You can't. You haven't. When it comes to the case of Dr. Mary Johnson vs. your beloved Randolph Hospital, all the "right people" who run Asheboro have acted just like a bunch of fricking communists.
The brand of conservatism you-all practice gives "red-state" a whole new meaning.
On that note, I'd like to share a story. I returned to my little apartment down East late on Sunday night to find that the water had been turned off. It was fairly annoying because after a long road trip and unpacking the cats/car, I tend to want to take a shower before I go to bed.
Of course, after making several calls to the hospital (whose responsibility it is to pay the bill), it was determined that nothing could be done that night. I went in the next morning to use the shower in the nurse's lounge.
That snafu was made even more annoying by another snafu. You see, the small/rural hospital I work for is trying to save money, and the doctors who cover for me the week I am gone stay at the apartment instead of at a B&B or hotel. There are extra bedrooms upstairs at the apartment (I keep them closed off so I don't have to chase the cats everywhere) . . . but no extra bedroom furniture . . . and the hospital has decided that they do not want to go to that expense.
I'm not complaining. With the economy in the tank, it's a decision I completely understand. And despite what Bob Morrison told everybody in Asheboro, I'm a team player.
So in the days before I left on my break, cleaning the apartment and getting it ready for someone else (and his wife), I moved all of the bedroom furniture into one of the other bedrooms (in order to preserve just a little bit of privacy in terms of my closet & bathroom space) . . . then carefully made up the bed and closed it off. It was very hard on my chronically sore ankle (it's a fair bet that despite many weeks of ministrations, the ligament is still torn) . . . and my healing knee/fractured tibia . . . but I got it done.
I decided to bring an old air mattress back to sleep on in my room . . . so I could just leave the "guest" bedroom as is . . . and not have to clean it/move things again. But alas, when I pumped the thing full of air and laid down on it, I realized there was a leak. By the wee morning hours, I was pretty much sleeping on two layers of vinyl and a sheet over a very hard floor.
Without a bath and sleeping on the floor, I did not sleep well. I was sore all over Monday morning . . . and quite the grump.
This, you see, is the real front line of rural medicine. People who ride in limos don't get it.
Yesterday, the hospital quickly straightened out the bill (they had actually paid it -but the city had been credited payment to the wrong account) and got the water turned back on. And I went to WalMart and bought a new air mattress and foam pad (I plan to deduct those as a business expense).
And last night, I finally got some sleep.
That's where we get to the title of this post. Shortly after I had drifted off to sleep, a friend called and woke me up. He was furious over a new TV ad he had seen on Fox 8.
The ad, of course, was for Randolph Hospital. Something about envelopes and breast cancer and mammograms and "care you can trust" (that one always makes me gag). My friend said it was obviously an expensive ad.
And WHY, he ranted, had Fox 8 not covered my story of medical-legal woe?
In other words, why was the Randolph County District Attorney able to completely shut this case down without so much as an investigation? Why are these prosecutors news . . . and not what's been going on in Asheboro?
For you see, my friend (and several others) have actually called or e-mailed the station on several occasions . . . and asked them to look into it.
After listening to the rant . . . exhausted and sore and wanting desperately for the Motrin to kick in - and to be able chase the sheep who were escaping into the land of Nod . . . I patiently explained (again) that newspapers and TV stations are all about ad revenue. The TV spot was an expensive bit of fluff, putting big money in the station's coffers, and there is no way Fox 8 is going to bite the hand that feeds.
Ditto for News 2 . . . and the N&R . . . and (of course) the Courier-Tribune.
When you think about it, they're all a bunch of "communists";););)
Never mind that sucking up to the corporate advertisers is the biggest reason (in my humble opinion) that newspapers are dying . . . indeed it's the reason this country is in the awful fix it's in. The newshounds stopped sniffing for news. They got comfortable and phat on the rose-colored sound bites. They guzzled the Kool-Aid, and merrily skipped forward (over the dead bodies of those who blew the whistle), and emphasized the positive and kept the lid clamped down on the negative.
Never mind that newspapers are supposed to be all about speaking truth to power . . . and making sure dissent is reported and heard.
Then the bubbles burst. And the JR's of this world (?who amazingly are still employed?) cannot understand what happened.
The news media . . . especially the local media . . . has no credibility anymore.
Digesting the explanation, my friend grumbled some more, but eventually I was able to hang up and grab the tail of that last sheep hopping over the fence into the land of Nod.
I slept well.
It is my sincere hope that Bob Morrison and Steven Eblin are not.
And Bev, you & the Obamas can hold all the forums you like. But you are not going to change or fix anything in healthcare until you stop hand-picking your audience . . . and start listening to those of us who have been badly burned on the front lines . . . you know . . .
. . . the "wrong people" you've previously thrown under your damned limo.
Afternoon Update: The N&R/Mark Binker's coverage of the event.
This killed me:
Perdue cited North Carolina’s system of community care networks – systems that help provide primary care for the uninsured and under-insured – as examples of things that could help solve national health care problems.
Yeah, sure Bev. Whatever you say. Maybe I'd drink your Kool-Aid if doctors participating in those programs were not generally regarded (and treated) as being "a dime a dozen". Maybe I'd buy it if I had not spent eleven years trying to get some justice after being screwed over by one of those community "networks" just thirty miles south of where you spoke today.
And Bev, I gotta say. For someone so concerned about accountability and transparency in state government and public programs, you've certainly be no help whatsoever.
I've heard it all before, Bev. Jim Hunt cared. Clinton cared. Easley cared. Edwards cared. Now Obama cares. And look at the fix we're all in now. Look at what I've been through as a doctor.
Moreover, I do not see the N&R's Mark Binker (who fordamnedsure knows this "average citizen" is in the blogosphere) challenging Perdue's statement . . . say by asking ANY questions about what happened to Dr. Mary Johnson in Asheboro.
The Obama staffer who co-chaired today's dog & pony show, Nancy-Ann DeParle, said this, “The personal stories are really something you take back.”
Again. Yeah, sure. Whatever.
Obama has all the answers. Especially when the questions are fixed.
I cannot attend as I am on-call down East. And despite dropping a number of hints on this blog (which I know is being read by folks in Raleigh & Washington), I was not invited . . . so I could tell my current employer that the Governor invited me to a big important meeting on healthcare reform . . . could they please find me a sub for today?
What do you want to bet that Bob Morrison and/or Steven Eblin will be front and center at Bev's latest party?
Of course, Bev doesn't really want to hear what I think. She never has. More to the point, she doesn't want other people to hear either. You see, it would be "embarrassing" . . . especially for people like Keith Crisco (now in her administration) . . . local leaders well-practiced at turning a deaf ear (Keith's not the only one) in order to protect their very important friends running Randolph Hospital from the consequences of their actions.
I mean, I've known and respected Stan Haywood for years - he and his wife, Hope, were good friends to my Mama when she was in working as a teacher in the school system. But like Keith and other Asheboro/Randolph County leaders . . . and like the big-gun doctors at the hospital (Jim Kinlaw, Bob Scott, Charles Stout, the rest) . . . he simply turned a blind eye and a deaf ear when Irene's daughter was professionally robbed, raped and left for dead by Bob Morrison & company.
City Council members and County Commissioners don't have to care when public money is wasted and good Pediatricians are drummed out of town. They've always said it was not their concern . . . or jurisdiction. But hey, they have their fingers on the pulse of the community.
So I have to roll my eyes and groan when I read stuff like this in the local weekly:
“Government needs to stay out of the lives of we citizens,” he said. “We can govern ourselves better than they can. We know we can do better than the communists in Washington."
Actually, NO Stan. You can't. You haven't. When it comes to the case of Dr. Mary Johnson vs. your beloved Randolph Hospital, all the "right people" who run Asheboro have acted just like a bunch of fricking communists.
The brand of conservatism you-all practice gives "red-state" a whole new meaning.
On that note, I'd like to share a story. I returned to my little apartment down East late on Sunday night to find that the water had been turned off. It was fairly annoying because after a long road trip and unpacking the cats/car, I tend to want to take a shower before I go to bed.
Of course, after making several calls to the hospital (whose responsibility it is to pay the bill), it was determined that nothing could be done that night. I went in the next morning to use the shower in the nurse's lounge.
That snafu was made even more annoying by another snafu. You see, the small/rural hospital I work for is trying to save money, and the doctors who cover for me the week I am gone stay at the apartment instead of at a B&B or hotel. There are extra bedrooms upstairs at the apartment (I keep them closed off so I don't have to chase the cats everywhere) . . . but no extra bedroom furniture . . . and the hospital has decided that they do not want to go to that expense.
I'm not complaining. With the economy in the tank, it's a decision I completely understand. And despite what Bob Morrison told everybody in Asheboro, I'm a team player.
So in the days before I left on my break, cleaning the apartment and getting it ready for someone else (and his wife), I moved all of the bedroom furniture into one of the other bedrooms (in order to preserve just a little bit of privacy in terms of my closet & bathroom space) . . . then carefully made up the bed and closed it off. It was very hard on my chronically sore ankle (it's a fair bet that despite many weeks of ministrations, the ligament is still torn) . . . and my healing knee/fractured tibia . . . but I got it done.
I decided to bring an old air mattress back to sleep on in my room . . . so I could just leave the "guest" bedroom as is . . . and not have to clean it/move things again. But alas, when I pumped the thing full of air and laid down on it, I realized there was a leak. By the wee morning hours, I was pretty much sleeping on two layers of vinyl and a sheet over a very hard floor.
Without a bath and sleeping on the floor, I did not sleep well. I was sore all over Monday morning . . . and quite the grump.
This, you see, is the real front line of rural medicine. People who ride in limos don't get it.
Yesterday, the hospital quickly straightened out the bill (they had actually paid it -but the city had been credited payment to the wrong account) and got the water turned back on. And I went to WalMart and bought a new air mattress and foam pad (I plan to deduct those as a business expense).
And last night, I finally got some sleep.
That's where we get to the title of this post. Shortly after I had drifted off to sleep, a friend called and woke me up. He was furious over a new TV ad he had seen on Fox 8.
The ad, of course, was for Randolph Hospital. Something about envelopes and breast cancer and mammograms and "care you can trust" (that one always makes me gag). My friend said it was obviously an expensive ad.
And WHY, he ranted, had Fox 8 not covered my story of medical-legal woe?
In other words, why was the Randolph County District Attorney able to completely shut this case down without so much as an investigation? Why are these prosecutors news . . . and not what's been going on in Asheboro?
For you see, my friend (and several others) have actually called or e-mailed the station on several occasions . . . and asked them to look into it.
After listening to the rant . . . exhausted and sore and wanting desperately for the Motrin to kick in - and to be able chase the sheep who were escaping into the land of Nod . . . I patiently explained (again) that newspapers and TV stations are all about ad revenue. The TV spot was an expensive bit of fluff, putting big money in the station's coffers, and there is no way Fox 8 is going to bite the hand that feeds.
Ditto for News 2 . . . and the N&R . . . and (of course) the Courier-Tribune.
When you think about it, they're all a bunch of "communists";););)
Never mind that sucking up to the corporate advertisers is the biggest reason (in my humble opinion) that newspapers are dying . . . indeed it's the reason this country is in the awful fix it's in. The newshounds stopped sniffing for news. They got comfortable and phat on the rose-colored sound bites. They guzzled the Kool-Aid, and merrily skipped forward (over the dead bodies of those who blew the whistle), and emphasized the positive and kept the lid clamped down on the negative.
Never mind that newspapers are supposed to be all about speaking truth to power . . . and making sure dissent is reported and heard.
Then the bubbles burst. And the JR's of this world (?who amazingly are still employed?) cannot understand what happened.
The news media . . . especially the local media . . . has no credibility anymore.
Digesting the explanation, my friend grumbled some more, but eventually I was able to hang up and grab the tail of that last sheep hopping over the fence into the land of Nod.
I slept well.
It is my sincere hope that Bob Morrison and Steven Eblin are not.
And Bev, you & the Obamas can hold all the forums you like. But you are not going to change or fix anything in healthcare until you stop hand-picking your audience . . . and start listening to those of us who have been badly burned on the front lines . . . you know . . .
. . . the "wrong people" you've previously thrown under your damned limo.
Afternoon Update: The N&R/Mark Binker's coverage of the event.
This killed me:
Perdue cited North Carolina’s system of community care networks – systems that help provide primary care for the uninsured and under-insured – as examples of things that could help solve national health care problems.
Yeah, sure Bev. Whatever you say. Maybe I'd drink your Kool-Aid if doctors participating in those programs were not generally regarded (and treated) as being "a dime a dozen". Maybe I'd buy it if I had not spent eleven years trying to get some justice after being screwed over by one of those community "networks" just thirty miles south of where you spoke today.
And Bev, I gotta say. For someone so concerned about accountability and transparency in state government and public programs, you've certainly be no help whatsoever.
I've heard it all before, Bev. Jim Hunt cared. Clinton cared. Easley cared. Edwards cared. Now Obama cares. And look at the fix we're all in now. Look at what I've been through as a doctor.
Moreover, I do not see the N&R's Mark Binker (who fordamnedsure knows this "average citizen" is in the blogosphere) challenging Perdue's statement . . . say by asking ANY questions about what happened to Dr. Mary Johnson in Asheboro.
The Obama staffer who co-chaired today's dog & pony show, Nancy-Ann DeParle, said this, “The personal stories are really something you take back.”
Again. Yeah, sure. Whatever.
Monday, March 30, 2009
Priorities And Lessons Not Learned
It amazes me that the entire medical blogosphere is screaming for the head of Catherine DeAngelis . . . the JAMA Editor who called a rejected contributor a "nobody and a nothing" . . .
. . . while Bob Morrison & Steven Eblin, the senior executives of a non-profit hospital who lied repeatedly under Oath in order to finish the trampling of a Pediatrician whose life they trashed for putting a patient first (translation: crimes . . . multiple felonies . . . were committed) . . . are scott-free in Asheboro, North Carolina.
Priorities are seriously out-of-wack.
Kevin keeps talking about how hospitals have learned that honesty & transparency is good policy . . . and that apologies often go a long way towards preventing situations from escalating.
I am sorry, Kevin (Get it? I'm apologizing). Many hospitals most certainly have NOT learned that.
. . . while Bob Morrison & Steven Eblin, the senior executives of a non-profit hospital who lied repeatedly under Oath in order to finish the trampling of a Pediatrician whose life they trashed for putting a patient first (translation: crimes . . . multiple felonies . . . were committed) . . . are scott-free in Asheboro, North Carolina.
Priorities are seriously out-of-wack.
Kevin keeps talking about how hospitals have learned that honesty & transparency is good policy . . . and that apologies often go a long way towards preventing situations from escalating.
I am sorry, Kevin (Get it? I'm apologizing). Many hospitals most certainly have NOT learned that.
I Saw The Light
Last night, driving back down East . . . about thirty minutes from my destination . . . deep in the darkest, most desolate middle of nowhere . . . with a cold wind fiercely blowing and nary a drop of rain in sight . . . I am one of the people who saw the light and heard the boom.
I did not call 911. I figured it was better than being kidnapped by aliens, dodging a bear or hitting a deer.
Update: The explanation.
I did not call 911. I figured it was better than being kidnapped by aliens, dodging a bear or hitting a deer.
Update: The explanation.
Doctor's Day
I've not been one to celebrate Doctor's Day (nurses get a week). Mostly because, for the most part, temp docs (locum tenens) & independent contractors are not very high on anyone's food chain.
That, and since Asheboro, I've not felt much like celebrating being a doctor.
But I must say. It does not get much better than answering your doorbell to find two LDRP nursing supervisors on your front stoop . . . ladies who came out to your apartment just to give you the basket of goodies they put together for their doctors . . . including brownies they baked.
This is why I love down East.
That, and since Asheboro, I've not felt much like celebrating being a doctor.
But I must say. It does not get much better than answering your doorbell to find two LDRP nursing supervisors on your front stoop . . . ladies who came out to your apartment just to give you the basket of goodies they put together for their doctors . . . including brownies they baked.
This is why I love down East.
Sunday, March 29, 2009
Safety Last
It's a dangerous world. This notwithstanding, it has been my experience in a number of healthcare settings, that real security is generally pretty lax. It is one of the reasons I left big city ER work. I did not feel safe - especially at night.
Institutions don't think the investment is worthwhile - I would expect this is especially so during an economic meltdown.
And, as is usually the case in medicine, people have to die in order for anything to change.
My thoughts and prayers are with the families of the eight victims of this horrific crime. I cannot imagine being in their shoes tonight.
Institutions don't think the investment is worthwhile - I would expect this is especially so during an economic meltdown.
And, as is usually the case in medicine, people have to die in order for anything to change.
My thoughts and prayers are with the families of the eight victims of this horrific crime. I cannot imagine being in their shoes tonight.
The "Team" Of Randolph Hospital And The Moses Cone Healthcare System: Cooperating To Cover Up Medical Badness & Shoot The Messenger.
Yeah, yeah, I know. I forgot the Friday feature. Here's a link.
The break has been nice. I got a lot done this week. And it was a very busy weekend - hosting a gathering of the Ya.
It was only marred once . . . by driving by Bob Morrison & his family casually strolling down Viewmont. I remember thinking at the time that he must have been playing hooky, but I guess we established long ago that Morrison's position at Randolph Hospital does not depend on job performance, hard work or integrity. At least these days (as opposed to years past when he appeared to gloat), Bob sneers & scowls at me, and turns his back.
I see that as progress.
Anyway, this weekend, I spent a lot of time with a former AHS classmate that I only recently re-connected with. She has been following the blog for a little while, and it was interesting to hear her perspective both on (1) Asheboro in general ("magic" is not a word she would use) and (2) my experience at/battle with Randolph Hospital.
Her take is that, true to form, I have done everything I know how (and was raised) to do as a "Southern lady" to see some kind of justice (whatever that means) done. I've played by the rules and followed all of the proper channels for recourse/redress (that would include the journalistic ones).
Alas, because of the nature of what I am fighting against . . . and who . . . all of the doors have been slammed in my face (if they were open at all), and none of what I was always taught to do has worked.
Meanwhile people who broke all the rules have prospered and thrived - and some of them have gotten wealthy - more or less on the ignorant public's dime.
She understands the still-raw sense of betrayal and rage I feel about what Randolph did to me and (especially) why. . . given the huge practical/emotional/financial investments I made in getting my medical education . . . then coming back home and building a practice.
She admires the way I have hung in with the blogging . . . telling and re-telling the story in a methodical and detailed way . . . answering every question . . . parsing every word . . . taking all the slings and arrows from people in this blogosphere with important names & connections (like say, Cone) who, in fact, could have done something long ago to actually BE relevant . . . who could have used their name and connections to further my cause.
It was also interesting because she said she can see that over the last couple of months something has changed . . . in that I appear to be "on fire", more determined than ever, and ramping it up.
I absorbed all of this after taking phone call on Friday morning, from another friend who told me that what I was doing on the blog was very obviously turning up the heat on some of the players in this sad/sorry mill-town medical mess.
And my Mom is fielding more questions at church and from friends in the community.
People say they did not know . . . they had no idea. And I simply do not understand how that can be.
The YaYas actually brainstormed over the weekend about new ways to by-pass the Courier and N&R (who have proven themselves determined to bury this story) . . . and get the word out . . . Facebook, You-tube, Alumni websites, that sort of thing. Many good ideas were discussed.
And, of course, a lawsuit against the Medical Board and NCDHHS is becoming more and more likely with passing each day that does not find Bob Morrison and Steven Eblin in an unemployment line and/or in jail.
Randolph Hospital's senior executives are lowest form of pond scum in my book . . . and I do not care who knows it.
And on that note, Part Three is coming soon.
The break has been nice. I got a lot done this week. And it was a very busy weekend - hosting a gathering of the Ya.
It was only marred once . . . by driving by Bob Morrison & his family casually strolling down Viewmont. I remember thinking at the time that he must have been playing hooky, but I guess we established long ago that Morrison's position at Randolph Hospital does not depend on job performance, hard work or integrity. At least these days (as opposed to years past when he appeared to gloat), Bob sneers & scowls at me, and turns his back.
I see that as progress.
Anyway, this weekend, I spent a lot of time with a former AHS classmate that I only recently re-connected with. She has been following the blog for a little while, and it was interesting to hear her perspective both on (1) Asheboro in general ("magic" is not a word she would use) and (2) my experience at/battle with Randolph Hospital.
Her take is that, true to form, I have done everything I know how (and was raised) to do as a "Southern lady" to see some kind of justice (whatever that means) done. I've played by the rules and followed all of the proper channels for recourse/redress (that would include the journalistic ones).
Alas, because of the nature of what I am fighting against . . . and who . . . all of the doors have been slammed in my face (if they were open at all), and none of what I was always taught to do has worked.
Meanwhile people who broke all the rules have prospered and thrived - and some of them have gotten wealthy - more or less on the ignorant public's dime.
She understands the still-raw sense of betrayal and rage I feel about what Randolph did to me and (especially) why. . . given the huge practical/emotional/financial investments I made in getting my medical education . . . then coming back home and building a practice.
She admires the way I have hung in with the blogging . . . telling and re-telling the story in a methodical and detailed way . . . answering every question . . . parsing every word . . . taking all the slings and arrows from people in this blogosphere with important names & connections (like say, Cone) who, in fact, could have done something long ago to actually BE relevant . . . who could have used their name and connections to further my cause.
It was also interesting because she said she can see that over the last couple of months something has changed . . . in that I appear to be "on fire", more determined than ever, and ramping it up.
I absorbed all of this after taking phone call on Friday morning, from another friend who told me that what I was doing on the blog was very obviously turning up the heat on some of the players in this sad/sorry mill-town medical mess.
And my Mom is fielding more questions at church and from friends in the community.
People say they did not know . . . they had no idea. And I simply do not understand how that can be.
The YaYas actually brainstormed over the weekend about new ways to by-pass the Courier and N&R (who have proven themselves determined to bury this story) . . . and get the word out . . . Facebook, You-tube, Alumni websites, that sort of thing. Many good ideas were discussed.
And, of course, a lawsuit against the Medical Board and NCDHHS is becoming more and more likely with passing each day that does not find Bob Morrison and Steven Eblin in an unemployment line and/or in jail.
Randolph Hospital's senior executives are lowest form of pond scum in my book . . . and I do not care who knows it.
And on that note, Part Three is coming soon.
Thursday, March 26, 2009
From The Mouths Of Babes
One more thing before I go back on break: All I have to say about this 12-year old is WOW!
Rachel Hunter Fired: I Wonder If The "Progressive" Blogosphere Is Happy?
In the wake of the North Carolina State Bar's bogus "reprimand", Rachel Hunter was fired today.
Remember when the N&O's article said, "The reprimand has no other punitive aspects other than being a permanent part of her record" ?
I suppose paying Court (these days I am loathe to capitalize the word) costs is not punitive. Getting fired is not punitive.
North Carolina "journalists". Sneer. Spit. They never get the story right.
In these parts they don't even pretend to try.
Rachel actually predicted this would happen . . . it apparently has a lot to do with "the firm's" biggest client. She's a great employee, but it's all about the Bar's reprimand. "The firm" did not even wait for her to appeal a disciplinary action that has not even been entered on the record yet.
Of course, they can do this because North Carolina is a "right-to-work" state.
So as it turns out, the Bar did not have to strip Rachel of her law license in order to destroy her career.
Here is what is really burning my butt. I don't care if you like Rachel or you hate her. I don't care if you agree with her or despise every bit of rhetoric she (or her husband, Connie) uttered during her judicial campaign. This is fricking America. This case . . . this unashamed, blatant harassment by the N.C. State Bar is all and only about Free Speech . . . the Free Speech of a Judicial candidate no less. And make no mistake, the North Carolina State Bar wants to shut Rachel up. They want her to "just go away".
I am going to whip out my crystal ball again:
Rachel will appeal the Bar's ruling to the N.C. Court of Appeals. The stakes are high here for the powers-that-be, and she will lose. She will also likely lose an appeal to the N.C. Supreme Court - because no one in Raleigh has the brains-God-gave-a-pig to know when they've gone way too far.
Then it's on to the U.S. Supreme Court.
I also predict a civil suit - most likely in Federal Court and on First Amendment grounds . . . against the N.C. State Bar, "the Firm", their big client with the "high standards", and the as-yet-unidentified N.C. Court jester behind all of this.
I wonder if the oh-so-progressive blogosphere is happy? Will they dance with glee if she has to declare bankruptcy or loses her house?
I wonder if the people who called her "bat-shit" crazy . . . the same ones who called me a "whack-job" and/or told me to move on/get over it . . . are proud of themselves?
Rachel told me I would never get justice in this state. Now we're going to see if she will.
Okay. I'm back on break now. Look out when I come back.
Remember when the N&O's article said, "The reprimand has no other punitive aspects other than being a permanent part of her record" ?
I suppose paying Court (these days I am loathe to capitalize the word) costs is not punitive. Getting fired is not punitive.
North Carolina "journalists". Sneer. Spit. They never get the story right.
In these parts they don't even pretend to try.
Rachel actually predicted this would happen . . . it apparently has a lot to do with "the firm's" biggest client. She's a great employee, but it's all about the Bar's reprimand. "The firm" did not even wait for her to appeal a disciplinary action that has not even been entered on the record yet.
Of course, they can do this because North Carolina is a "right-to-work" state.
So as it turns out, the Bar did not have to strip Rachel of her law license in order to destroy her career.
Here is what is really burning my butt. I don't care if you like Rachel or you hate her. I don't care if you agree with her or despise every bit of rhetoric she (or her husband, Connie) uttered during her judicial campaign. This is fricking America. This case . . . this unashamed, blatant harassment by the N.C. State Bar is all and only about Free Speech . . . the Free Speech of a Judicial candidate no less. And make no mistake, the North Carolina State Bar wants to shut Rachel up. They want her to "just go away".
I am going to whip out my crystal ball again:
Rachel will appeal the Bar's ruling to the N.C. Court of Appeals. The stakes are high here for the powers-that-be, and she will lose. She will also likely lose an appeal to the N.C. Supreme Court - because no one in Raleigh has the brains-God-gave-a-pig to know when they've gone way too far.
Then it's on to the U.S. Supreme Court.
I also predict a civil suit - most likely in Federal Court and on First Amendment grounds . . . against the N.C. State Bar, "the Firm", their big client with the "high standards", and the as-yet-unidentified N.C. Court jester behind all of this.
I wonder if the oh-so-progressive blogosphere is happy? Will they dance with glee if she has to declare bankruptcy or loses her house?
I wonder if the people who called her "bat-shit" crazy . . . the same ones who called me a "whack-job" and/or told me to move on/get over it . . . are proud of themselves?
Rachel told me I would never get justice in this state. Now we're going to see if she will.
Okay. I'm back on break now. Look out when I come back.
Tuesday, March 24, 2009
On Break
In case you haven't noticed, I'm on break until next week.
P.S. This week is providing a veritable wealth of material;) I won't know where to start.
P.S. This week is providing a veritable wealth of material;) I won't know where to start.
Sunday, March 22, 2009
Natasha Richardson & The Medical Blogosphere: Backseat Driving On The Wrong Side Of The Road
In the wake of Natasha Richardson's tragic death, there has been a lot of back-seat driving in the medical blogosphere . . . mostly a host of coulda/shoulda/wouldas . . . and what ifs.
In that context, I'd like to share a story.
About a year ago, loading the trunk of the car in Eastern North Carolina in order to come back home, I stood up too fast and hit my head of the latch on the trunk's hood. My head was tilted slightly to one side as I stood, and/so the metal latch hit on the tempo-parietal side of my skull, just above my right ear.
It clocked me pretty hard - I literally "heard" a crack. Moreover, I was dazed and dizzy, and even a little bit nauseous immediately after. My vision actually blurred for a a short while. While there was no laceration and no bleeding, I could feel a dent in my skull (which is still there to this day), and my noggin pounded in pain.
Now, as I've blogged before, I have a reason to be a little bit more sensitive to/concerned about injuries to the head. I have trigeminal neuralgia, and actually have MRI findings which indicate that there is a slightly enlarged blood vessel at the base of my skull making sweet love to the trigeminal nerve as it exits to the right side of my face. In the past, I've endured several-hours-to-several-days "attacks" of excruciating headaches (there is a reason TGN is called "the suicide disease") . . . mercifully much less often/severe since my second sinus surgery at N.C. Baptist Hospital in 2006.
Now, I am a doctor - a doctor who has worked in a big-city/tertiary Emergency Department and has seen all manner/mechanism of head injury. And I was well aware, as soon as it happened, that the nature and location of the injury was suspicious for a depressed skull fracture and epidural hematoma.
But, as I did not lose consciousness (the first question we doctors usually ask), I did not go to the Emergency Department. I sat down on the front-door stoop for a few minutes and waited for the queasiness to pass. And, as soon as the dizziness wore off, I finished packing, took three Motrin (not the smartest thing to do if one thinks an artery might be bleeding inside one's head), got in the car and drove the four hours home.
In short, I was in total denial.
My head ached over the entire drive home (I remember wearing sunglasses in the evening because oncoming headlights hurt my eyes), and, as soon as I got home, I said a prayer to the porcelain gods (in other words, I vomited).
And there was still a easy-to-palpate dent in my skull. If I was one of my patients, I would have been in a CT scanner. But even being a doctor, and knowing both my medical history and the risk, I still did not go to the Emergency Department.
Over the next day or so, my neuralgia raged and my head pounded and my ears rang. But I never seriously considered going in for that CT scan.
So I completely get why Natasha Richardson, who was perfectly healthy and did not have medical training, refused initial medical care when that initial medical evaluation might have made the difference between life and death.
She was an independent lady. She was embarrassed about the fall . . . she did not want anyone to worry or make a fuss. She did not think something that awful could be happening to her.
The permanent dent in my head has ached all week thinking about it. And I have a few points I'd like to make to the "know-it-alls" in the medical blogosphere who are now posturing and railing about how Natasha's life could have/should have been saved.
If only they had been there . . . things would have been different.
For those who now criticize the first responders who were turned away, I am sorry. Even and especially in the "much-superior-to-Canada's" United States EMS system, if a patient refuses intervention, waiving off help AMA ("AMA" = Against Medical Advice), they refuse intervention.
You cannot force an exam. Barring an order of the court, that's called assault.
There are others in the blogosphere who would have flown in on their immediately-available white horse . . . a medi-vac helicopter . . . and pontificate that this would have made all the difference in getting Natasha the care she needed. But I trained at an institution (BGSM/NC Baptist Hospital) that services a Mountainous area (full of ski resorts) not nearly at the elevation of the resorts in Canada . . . and that medical center crashed two "birds" within just a few years of one another. There are probably very good practical and/or economic reasons this service was not available in this particular area of Canada.
Again, Ms Richardson did not seek medical help (or, it was not sought for her - assuming she was lucid enough to make the decision) for at least an hour or two. And those initial lost hours are probably what made the biggest difference between her life and her death . . . not the transport time after she developed (by the reports I've heard) obvious, serious and likely irreversible symptoms of increased intracranial pressure and impending herniation.
Now, while I consider myself well-travelled compared to the average Jane or Joe (I have, after all, been "across-the-pond"), I'm not well-traveled in the sense that Natasha Richardson and her family were. Most of my travels are by car and confined to the eastern seaboard of the United States and/or states east of the Mississippi.
That being said, I've spent a lot of my career providing medical care in rural/remote areas of North Carolina. And I'm here to tell you that resources - especially neurosurgical care - can be very limited in those circumstances (the reasons for that, at least in eastern North Carolina, are deeply mired in the malpractice crisis). While the "birds" are available, definitive care in neurosurgical trauma can still be significantly delayed.
So when I vacation in the Mountains or on the Coast, I don't expect that the same level of medical care available in the big city will be immediately available in the sticks - no matter how lush my surroundings might be. And I "play" accordingly.
Others bloggers sneer that all of the technology and travel was unnecessary. Trepanation has been used to treat head trauma (not to mention psychological disorders and evil spirits) since the time of the caveman. They would have borrowed a handi-man's drill and saved Natasha's life. If they had only been there!
And I have to roll my eyes. From an excerpt from a comment on a previous Housecalls post:
She (Natahsa) was at a luxury resort - far from tertiary care. She refused an initial evaluation . . . and by all accounts I've heard, lost valuable time (at least 2-3 hours) in terms of getting the necessary radiological studies and neurosurgical care.
I do not find it hard to believe - or particularly surprising - that specialized neurosurgical care may not have been available at the hospital in Quebec. This is a big problem in the States as well - in rural, remote and/or impoverished areas.
I've heard people say that a drilling a "simple" Burr-hole, based on her clinical symptoms alone, would have saved her life. But put yourself in the shoes of any non-neurosurgically trained MD evaluating a scion of one of the world's greatest acting families (assuming she got to you in time to do it - and it does not appear that she did). You're fordamnedsure not going to put a hole in someone's skull unless you have a CT to prove what's going on - and unless you have the training to do it. You would be excoriated for it.
Epidural bleeds are deceptive and can be deadly very quickly. And yes, this case appears to have been a classic, rapidly fatal presentation.
Here's the thing. I am quite certain that the medical providers who attended and tried to help Natasha Richardson did the best they could with the resources they had. I am quite sure anyone involved in taking care of her feels horrible about this outcome.
The talking heads who were not there can argue and posture all they like about public policy (requiring helmets - something Natasha declined to use) or EMS protocols & procedure . . .
. . . but Natasha Richardson's death was ultimately the tragic result of a "perfect storm" of unfortunate circumstances.
What I find most tragic in this instance, apart from the loss of a gifted actress, is that, as Hollywood marriages go - indeed as most marriages go, Natasha Richardson's to Liam Neeson was one of those rare unions that was a great love affair. In every picture they took and interview they granted, it was obvious that these people were madly, passionately in love, and totally respected one another personally and professionally.
She glowed on his arm and he doted on her. They were responsible/loving parents - devoted to their boys.
All the world's a stage. The Irishman and his English lady were a beautiful love story that has now played out as a tragedy worthy of Shakespeare.
I am profoundly sorry for her family. It's just awful.
Are there things to be learned from this story? Certainly. Protocols and laws to be changed or tweaked? Yes. But where the medical blogosphere is concerned, it's all backseat driving on the wrong side of the road, and my heart is heavy for it.
We could do better.
In that context, I'd like to share a story.
About a year ago, loading the trunk of the car in Eastern North Carolina in order to come back home, I stood up too fast and hit my head of the latch on the trunk's hood. My head was tilted slightly to one side as I stood, and/so the metal latch hit on the tempo-parietal side of my skull, just above my right ear.
It clocked me pretty hard - I literally "heard" a crack. Moreover, I was dazed and dizzy, and even a little bit nauseous immediately after. My vision actually blurred for a a short while. While there was no laceration and no bleeding, I could feel a dent in my skull (which is still there to this day), and my noggin pounded in pain.
Now, as I've blogged before, I have a reason to be a little bit more sensitive to/concerned about injuries to the head. I have trigeminal neuralgia, and actually have MRI findings which indicate that there is a slightly enlarged blood vessel at the base of my skull making sweet love to the trigeminal nerve as it exits to the right side of my face. In the past, I've endured several-hours-to-several-days "attacks" of excruciating headaches (there is a reason TGN is called "the suicide disease") . . . mercifully much less often/severe since my second sinus surgery at N.C. Baptist Hospital in 2006.
Now, I am a doctor - a doctor who has worked in a big-city/tertiary Emergency Department and has seen all manner/mechanism of head injury. And I was well aware, as soon as it happened, that the nature and location of the injury was suspicious for a depressed skull fracture and epidural hematoma.
But, as I did not lose consciousness (the first question we doctors usually ask), I did not go to the Emergency Department. I sat down on the front-door stoop for a few minutes and waited for the queasiness to pass. And, as soon as the dizziness wore off, I finished packing, took three Motrin (not the smartest thing to do if one thinks an artery might be bleeding inside one's head), got in the car and drove the four hours home.
In short, I was in total denial.
My head ached over the entire drive home (I remember wearing sunglasses in the evening because oncoming headlights hurt my eyes), and, as soon as I got home, I said a prayer to the porcelain gods (in other words, I vomited).
And there was still a easy-to-palpate dent in my skull. If I was one of my patients, I would have been in a CT scanner. But even being a doctor, and knowing both my medical history and the risk, I still did not go to the Emergency Department.
Over the next day or so, my neuralgia raged and my head pounded and my ears rang. But I never seriously considered going in for that CT scan.
So I completely get why Natasha Richardson, who was perfectly healthy and did not have medical training, refused initial medical care when that initial medical evaluation might have made the difference between life and death.
She was an independent lady. She was embarrassed about the fall . . . she did not want anyone to worry or make a fuss. She did not think something that awful could be happening to her.
The permanent dent in my head has ached all week thinking about it. And I have a few points I'd like to make to the "know-it-alls" in the medical blogosphere who are now posturing and railing about how Natasha's life could have/should have been saved.
If only they had been there . . . things would have been different.
For those who now criticize the first responders who were turned away, I am sorry. Even and especially in the "much-superior-to-Canada's" United States EMS system, if a patient refuses intervention, waiving off help AMA ("AMA" = Against Medical Advice), they refuse intervention.
You cannot force an exam. Barring an order of the court, that's called assault.
There are others in the blogosphere who would have flown in on their immediately-available white horse . . . a medi-vac helicopter . . . and pontificate that this would have made all the difference in getting Natasha the care she needed. But I trained at an institution (BGSM/NC Baptist Hospital) that services a Mountainous area (full of ski resorts) not nearly at the elevation of the resorts in Canada . . . and that medical center crashed two "birds" within just a few years of one another. There are probably very good practical and/or economic reasons this service was not available in this particular area of Canada.
Again, Ms Richardson did not seek medical help (or, it was not sought for her - assuming she was lucid enough to make the decision) for at least an hour or two. And those initial lost hours are probably what made the biggest difference between her life and her death . . . not the transport time after she developed (by the reports I've heard) obvious, serious and likely irreversible symptoms of increased intracranial pressure and impending herniation.
Now, while I consider myself well-travelled compared to the average Jane or Joe (I have, after all, been "across-the-pond"), I'm not well-traveled in the sense that Natasha Richardson and her family were. Most of my travels are by car and confined to the eastern seaboard of the United States and/or states east of the Mississippi.
That being said, I've spent a lot of my career providing medical care in rural/remote areas of North Carolina. And I'm here to tell you that resources - especially neurosurgical care - can be very limited in those circumstances (the reasons for that, at least in eastern North Carolina, are deeply mired in the malpractice crisis). While the "birds" are available, definitive care in neurosurgical trauma can still be significantly delayed.
So when I vacation in the Mountains or on the Coast, I don't expect that the same level of medical care available in the big city will be immediately available in the sticks - no matter how lush my surroundings might be. And I "play" accordingly.
Others bloggers sneer that all of the technology and travel was unnecessary. Trepanation has been used to treat head trauma (not to mention psychological disorders and evil spirits) since the time of the caveman. They would have borrowed a handi-man's drill and saved Natasha's life. If they had only been there!
And I have to roll my eyes. From an excerpt from a comment on a previous Housecalls post:
She (Natahsa) was at a luxury resort - far from tertiary care. She refused an initial evaluation . . . and by all accounts I've heard, lost valuable time (at least 2-3 hours) in terms of getting the necessary radiological studies and neurosurgical care.
I do not find it hard to believe - or particularly surprising - that specialized neurosurgical care may not have been available at the hospital in Quebec. This is a big problem in the States as well - in rural, remote and/or impoverished areas.
I've heard people say that a drilling a "simple" Burr-hole, based on her clinical symptoms alone, would have saved her life. But put yourself in the shoes of any non-neurosurgically trained MD evaluating a scion of one of the world's greatest acting families (assuming she got to you in time to do it - and it does not appear that she did). You're fordamnedsure not going to put a hole in someone's skull unless you have a CT to prove what's going on - and unless you have the training to do it. You would be excoriated for it.
Epidural bleeds are deceptive and can be deadly very quickly. And yes, this case appears to have been a classic, rapidly fatal presentation.
Here's the thing. I am quite certain that the medical providers who attended and tried to help Natasha Richardson did the best they could with the resources they had. I am quite sure anyone involved in taking care of her feels horrible about this outcome.
The talking heads who were not there can argue and posture all they like about public policy (requiring helmets - something Natasha declined to use) or EMS protocols & procedure . . .
. . . but Natasha Richardson's death was ultimately the tragic result of a "perfect storm" of unfortunate circumstances.
What I find most tragic in this instance, apart from the loss of a gifted actress, is that, as Hollywood marriages go - indeed as most marriages go, Natasha Richardson's to Liam Neeson was one of those rare unions that was a great love affair. In every picture they took and interview they granted, it was obvious that these people were madly, passionately in love, and totally respected one another personally and professionally.
She glowed on his arm and he doted on her. They were responsible/loving parents - devoted to their boys.
All the world's a stage. The Irishman and his English lady were a beautiful love story that has now played out as a tragedy worthy of Shakespeare.
I am profoundly sorry for her family. It's just awful.
Are there things to be learned from this story? Certainly. Protocols and laws to be changed or tweaked? Yes. But where the medical blogosphere is concerned, it's all backseat driving on the wrong side of the road, and my heart is heavy for it.
We could do better.
The "Team" Of Randolph Hospital And The Moses Cone Healthcare System: Cooperating To Cover Up Medical Badness & Shoot The Messenger.
Friday was a busy day, Saturday is a blur, and I forgot all about my Friday feature.
I've been hearing a lot through the various grapevines - about local lay-offs & hiring freezes at the big/named healthcare institutions and people being out of work becaue of other people's greed (of course, I'll note the big guns still have their jobs and their phat salaries).
I sympathize, I really, really do. You can train all the doctors nurses to fill all the shortages in the world . . .
. . . but it doesn't matter if (1) you cannot afford to do it on your own and/or, (2) no one is hiring.
Alas, truthfully, I'm also just a little ambivalent. For way back when, when I found myself kicked to Asheboro's curb for doing the right thing . . . for going above and beyond . . . because of other people's greed . . . none of those people getting laid off now gave a royal damn.
Moreover, as the Melvin Levine case plays out, I see more and more that it's not so much about what might embarrass him - or even the Medical Board - but what might embarrass the world-renowned medical institution (in this case, UNC-Chapel Hill) were these very-bad things allegedly happened.
Again, I have to say "allegedly", because the North Carolina Medical Board's quest for the trust screeched to a halt at UNC's back door. The "solution" they came up with is actually a non-solution. We The ignorant-because-we've-purposely-been-kept-in-the-dark-People don't know the truth, and won't know the truth from anything that the Medical Board did. And the lawyers for either side can continue to spin.
As the years have passed, I have come to understand that what happened to me at Randolph Hospital . . . not-to-mention the crap I have been put through in the GSO blogosphere . . . has been mostly about an institution and a name that the truth threatened.
That would be Cone.
Here's Friday's post, two days late.
Every Friday afternoon, until Bob Morrison and Steven Eblin are fired "for cause" and the state/federal regulatory & legal systems holds them - and their hospital - accountable for their crimes, I am going to post the same post:
Bob Morrison and Steven Eblin, senior executives of Randolph Hospital, in Asheboro, North Carolina, are overpaid, over-rated liars and cheats . . . unconvicted felons. They made promises to me - and to my former colleagues (many long gone) - and the community as a whole - that they have, in no way, kept.
They pitted doctor against doctor, and played favorites. They threatened, then retaliated against a Pediatrician in public service for doing her job and her sworn duty. They violated federal contracts (decimating the stated "mission" of the taxpayer-funded programs that brought the Pediatrician home), trampled the confidentiality & privilege of internal mechanisms intended to improve quality of care, used the legal system as a weapon, and ultimately broke the law in order to further their warped agenda of total economic dominance of healthcare in Asheboro.
Randolph Hospital lied to the public about what they did and why - in order to perpetuate a medical cover-up . . . a cover-up that also served the best interests of Cone Hospital - with whom they enjoy a "cooperative relationship".
Every act was drenched in greed and malice. Morrison and Eblin are not honorable men. Mark my words, young physicians, not a single word out of their mouths or document they sign can be trusted . . . my best/most sincere advice to you, especially if you are a Pediatrician, is to STEER CLEAR of entrusting your future to this hospital.
And patients, know this. In this case, a newborn baby's life was endangered by false advertising and grossly inadequate care. Instead of commending and/or rewarding the doctor who put the patient first and stepped in to help (despite threats against her livelihood), Randolph Hospital did everything it could to cover the mess up and destroy that doctor's reputation and career.
This farce of medicine and justice is not solely limited to the executives who did the dirty work. Plenty of responsibility lies at the feet of the "honorable" hospital Board members and medical staff who all looked in the other direction while this was going on . . . and who did nothing to stop it. Moreover, they've done nothing since evidence of perjury, contempt and fraud on the part of executives (trying to minimize the damage when they finally had to pony up) were brought to their attention six years ago. These "honorable" folk have made it clear what they value - and it is not honesty or good care.
This was/is NOT "care you can trust". I realize that choices in Asheboro are somewhat limited, but keep this in mind as you chose where you and your loved ones seek medical care.
While we are on the subject of limited choices, Morrison & Eblin's brand of "leadership" has proven to be a menace to the community - especially to the children they sold out and dumped on the Merce Clinic . . . children they stepped over in order to build fancy/flashy ER's and cancer centers.
For well over a decade, Bob Morrison and Steven have been shielded and protected and even rewarded by all the "right people" in Asheboro and Greensboro and Raleigh and Washington . . . people at the NC & US Departments of Heath & Human Services, at the Medical Board, at the State Bar, in the Governor's & Attorney Generals' offices, who despite their pretty words about ethics, and transparency and accountability have strained their necks to look the other way - and have done nothing to help the doctor wronged.
Dr. Mary Johnson is not going away until they go away.
This post will be up very Friday . . . generating Google hits from anyone (physician or patient) doing research on either institution . . . until Bob Morrison and Steven Eblin and Randolph Hospital do the accountability dance.
Change is here. I don't care who you are or who you know or how many snobbish/elitist "dine-arounds" you attend. You do not get to lie and cheat and steal . . . you do not get to hammer good doctors . . . and continue to collect the phat pay checks/get away with it.
I've been hearing a lot through the various grapevines - about local lay-offs & hiring freezes at the big/named healthcare institutions and people being out of work becaue of other people's greed (of course, I'll note the big guns still have their jobs and their phat salaries).
I sympathize, I really, really do. You can train all the doctors nurses to fill all the shortages in the world . . .
. . . but it doesn't matter if (1) you cannot afford to do it on your own and/or, (2) no one is hiring.
Alas, truthfully, I'm also just a little ambivalent. For way back when, when I found myself kicked to Asheboro's curb for doing the right thing . . . for going above and beyond . . . because of other people's greed . . . none of those people getting laid off now gave a royal damn.
Moreover, as the Melvin Levine case plays out, I see more and more that it's not so much about what might embarrass him - or even the Medical Board - but what might embarrass the world-renowned medical institution (in this case, UNC-Chapel Hill) were these very-bad things allegedly happened.
Again, I have to say "allegedly", because the North Carolina Medical Board's quest for the trust screeched to a halt at UNC's back door. The "solution" they came up with is actually a non-solution. We The ignorant-because-we've-purposely-been-kept-in-the-dark-People don't know the truth, and won't know the truth from anything that the Medical Board did. And the lawyers for either side can continue to spin.
As the years have passed, I have come to understand that what happened to me at Randolph Hospital . . . not-to-mention the crap I have been put through in the GSO blogosphere . . . has been mostly about an institution and a name that the truth threatened.
That would be Cone.
Here's Friday's post, two days late.
Every Friday afternoon, until Bob Morrison and Steven Eblin are fired "for cause" and the state/federal regulatory & legal systems holds them - and their hospital - accountable for their crimes, I am going to post the same post:
Bob Morrison and Steven Eblin, senior executives of Randolph Hospital, in Asheboro, North Carolina, are overpaid, over-rated liars and cheats . . . unconvicted felons. They made promises to me - and to my former colleagues (many long gone) - and the community as a whole - that they have, in no way, kept.
They pitted doctor against doctor, and played favorites. They threatened, then retaliated against a Pediatrician in public service for doing her job and her sworn duty. They violated federal contracts (decimating the stated "mission" of the taxpayer-funded programs that brought the Pediatrician home), trampled the confidentiality & privilege of internal mechanisms intended to improve quality of care, used the legal system as a weapon, and ultimately broke the law in order to further their warped agenda of total economic dominance of healthcare in Asheboro.
Randolph Hospital lied to the public about what they did and why - in order to perpetuate a medical cover-up . . . a cover-up that also served the best interests of Cone Hospital - with whom they enjoy a "cooperative relationship".
Every act was drenched in greed and malice. Morrison and Eblin are not honorable men. Mark my words, young physicians, not a single word out of their mouths or document they sign can be trusted . . . my best/most sincere advice to you, especially if you are a Pediatrician, is to STEER CLEAR of entrusting your future to this hospital.
And patients, know this. In this case, a newborn baby's life was endangered by false advertising and grossly inadequate care. Instead of commending and/or rewarding the doctor who put the patient first and stepped in to help (despite threats against her livelihood), Randolph Hospital did everything it could to cover the mess up and destroy that doctor's reputation and career.
This farce of medicine and justice is not solely limited to the executives who did the dirty work. Plenty of responsibility lies at the feet of the "honorable" hospital Board members and medical staff who all looked in the other direction while this was going on . . . and who did nothing to stop it. Moreover, they've done nothing since evidence of perjury, contempt and fraud on the part of executives (trying to minimize the damage when they finally had to pony up) were brought to their attention six years ago. These "honorable" folk have made it clear what they value - and it is not honesty or good care.
This was/is NOT "care you can trust". I realize that choices in Asheboro are somewhat limited, but keep this in mind as you chose where you and your loved ones seek medical care.
While we are on the subject of limited choices, Morrison & Eblin's brand of "leadership" has proven to be a menace to the community - especially to the children they sold out and dumped on the Merce Clinic . . . children they stepped over in order to build fancy/flashy ER's and cancer centers.
For well over a decade, Bob Morrison and Steven have been shielded and protected and even rewarded by all the "right people" in Asheboro and Greensboro and Raleigh and Washington . . . people at the NC & US Departments of Heath & Human Services, at the Medical Board, at the State Bar, in the Governor's & Attorney Generals' offices, who despite their pretty words about ethics, and transparency and accountability have strained their necks to look the other way - and have done nothing to help the doctor wronged.
Dr. Mary Johnson is not going away until they go away.
This post will be up very Friday . . . generating Google hits from anyone (physician or patient) doing research on either institution . . . until Bob Morrison and Steven Eblin and Randolph Hospital do the accountability dance.
Change is here. I don't care who you are or who you know or how many snobbish/elitist "dine-arounds" you attend. You do not get to lie and cheat and steal . . . you do not get to hammer good doctors . . . and continue to collect the phat pay checks/get away with it.
Saturday, March 21, 2009
DId I Say I Hate Cover-Ups?
The N&O has printed a new story on the Melvin Levine case this morning (in all likelihood, to kill commentary that was not exactly spinning the Boards' way on the first story) that gives no more real information than the first. It's just spin.
I'm fairly disgusted with the whole lot in this mess: Levine, the patient-accusers, the Medical Board. In a case like this . . . if you're "innocent" . . . or victimized and want people to know the truth about what happened . . . or truly in the game to protect the public . . . you do not compromise or settle. You fight. You demand a public reckoning.
I mean, my God, we're talking about *&^%$#@ alleged child abuse on the part of a Pediatrician!?! Child abuse that allegedly took place on the campus of one of North Carolina's most renowned medical institutions!
As it is, all the lawyers can spin. It's pretty nauseating.
From my comment this morning on the second story:
This article gives no more information than the one the N&O published yesterday, and will serve to kill commentary there. It's just more lawyerly spin (in favor of the Medical Board) for a bad decision. There should have been a hearing. Testimony should have been heard and vetted. The was an opportunity for Dr. Levine to be heard and judged by his peers.
We the public do not know the truth, and will not know the truth.
Let me ask the N&O this (again). IF the NCMB really thinks the man is guilty of a crime that society regards as heinous and would prosecute in normal circumstances, IF all they have done is confirm his decision (in the wake of the scandal) to retire and move on to other things, WHAT exactly have they accomplished in terms of protecting the public?
I know I'm busting the chops of the hand that feeds, but this Board has a LONG history of sweeping badness under the rug. Been there, done that, lost my job for FIGHTING THEIR FIGHT.
I hate cover-ups. I hate it even more when the newspapers play along.
The North Carolina Medical Board covered-up and condoned what was done to me eleven years ago - by a hospital covering up medical badness . . . not to mention crimes I reported to them six years ago.
They could not/cannot make so much as a phone call to the Attorney General? I just am not EVER going to buy that!
And/so the Board's inaction and silence served to send the very clear message that it's a-okay with them, as the licensing body for physicians in this state, for hospitals to retaliate against doctors for putting patients before profit and good PR. The Board didn't lift a finger to protect the duties they require.
They're covering up now . . . something apparently much uglier.
So much for accountability and transparency.
I'm fairly disgusted with the whole lot in this mess: Levine, the patient-accusers, the Medical Board. In a case like this . . . if you're "innocent" . . . or victimized and want people to know the truth about what happened . . . or truly in the game to protect the public . . . you do not compromise or settle. You fight. You demand a public reckoning.
I mean, my God, we're talking about *&^%$#@ alleged child abuse on the part of a Pediatrician!?! Child abuse that allegedly took place on the campus of one of North Carolina's most renowned medical institutions!
As it is, all the lawyers can spin. It's pretty nauseating.
From my comment this morning on the second story:
This article gives no more information than the one the N&O published yesterday, and will serve to kill commentary there. It's just more lawyerly spin (in favor of the Medical Board) for a bad decision. There should have been a hearing. Testimony should have been heard and vetted. The was an opportunity for Dr. Levine to be heard and judged by his peers.
We the public do not know the truth, and will not know the truth.
Let me ask the N&O this (again). IF the NCMB really thinks the man is guilty of a crime that society regards as heinous and would prosecute in normal circumstances, IF all they have done is confirm his decision (in the wake of the scandal) to retire and move on to other things, WHAT exactly have they accomplished in terms of protecting the public?
I know I'm busting the chops of the hand that feeds, but this Board has a LONG history of sweeping badness under the rug. Been there, done that, lost my job for FIGHTING THEIR FIGHT.
I hate cover-ups. I hate it even more when the newspapers play along.
The North Carolina Medical Board covered-up and condoned what was done to me eleven years ago - by a hospital covering up medical badness . . . not to mention crimes I reported to them six years ago.
They could not/cannot make so much as a phone call to the Attorney General? I just am not EVER going to buy that!
And/so the Board's inaction and silence served to send the very clear message that it's a-okay with them, as the licensing body for physicians in this state, for hospitals to retaliate against doctors for putting patients before profit and good PR. The Board didn't lift a finger to protect the duties they require.
They're covering up now . . . something apparently much uglier.
So much for accountability and transparency.
Friday, March 20, 2009
The State Bar On "Madame Justice": The Equivalent Of A Speeding Ticket With No Points On Your Insurance
I'm waiting to attend a last-minute C-Section, and then (after I hand over the beeper) I've got some driving to do.
After that, I've got to Windex my crystal ball (note how fast the N&O got this story up).
And I'm tickled pink (or is it red?) about that.
Maybe my divining tool doesn't work so well because it's blue?
But if that were not the case, I'd have a real field day with this. Does anyone else see the profound irony in lawyers lecturing anyone on "selfish motives"? I mean, that's just laughable.
Perhaps the N.C. State Bar knows that REAL progressives are watching them now . . . and they've finally figured out that we in North Carolina value free speech, and we simply won't tolerate bullies doing their politically-motivated, partisan bullying on the public's dime.
More later.
After that, I've got to Windex my crystal ball (note how fast the N&O got this story up).
And I'm tickled pink (or is it red?) about that.
Maybe my divining tool doesn't work so well because it's blue?
But if that were not the case, I'd have a real field day with this. Does anyone else see the profound irony in lawyers lecturing anyone on "selfish motives"? I mean, that's just laughable.
Perhaps the N.C. State Bar knows that REAL progressives are watching them now . . . and they've finally figured out that we in North Carolina value free speech, and we simply won't tolerate bullies doing their politically-motivated, partisan bullying on the public's dime.
More later.
Christmas In March
I am a just little addled this morning . . . in a good/very excited/happyHappyHAPPY way . . . because I found the classic red Ford truck of my dreams (online) . . . and the t's are being crossed and i's dotted to purchase/insure/tag the vehicle.
I don't want to say too much about the find until I have the actual keys in my hand - lest anything be jinxed. But when I saw this truck, my heart literally skipped a beat. And what's left of Daddy swirled in the urn.
I've been happily punching possible personal license plate logos into the DMV's search engine all morning.
Today, I am a kid again. And it's Christmas with Tom and Cecil:)
I don't want to say too much about the find until I have the actual keys in my hand - lest anything be jinxed. But when I saw this truck, my heart literally skipped a beat. And what's left of Daddy swirled in the urn.
I've been happily punching possible personal license plate logos into the DMV's search engine all morning.
Today, I am a kid again. And it's Christmas with Tom and Cecil:)
Not Special At All
Before it happened, critics expressed concern that a sitting POTUS appearing on Leno (I guess poor Letterman, after all the McCain-bashing, is feeling like an ugly stepsister) was not appropriate . . . that it "dumbed down" the office.
As it turns out, it was not the appearance that dumbed down the office.
It was the man sitting in the President's chair.
As it turns out, it was not the appearance that dumbed down the office.
It was the man sitting in the President's chair.
A Minute In The Dark
A lovely tribute to a lady who lit up any room she was in: Lights out on Broadway.
On Melvin Levine (Part III): I Hate Cover-Ups. I Really, Really Hate Them
2/17/2011 Update: Dr. Melvin Levine: Back In The News
The NC Medical Board today took action in the Melvin Levine case today that, to me . . . in terms of real accountability for doctors . . . and, as the victim of a different kind of rape . . . just reeks.
From the N&O article:
Dr. Mel Levine, a nationally renown pediatrician who pioneered educational methods for children with learning disabilities, will never practice medicine again under an agreement reached today with the N.C. Medical Board.
Five former male patients had accused Levine of conducting inappropriate genital examinations when they were seen for behavioral issues such as attention deficit disorder. Levine ran a clinic at UNC-Chapel Hill and founded a research institute called All Kinds of Minds.
The former patients' allegations sparked an investigation by the medical board, which licenses and disciplines doctors. Last year, Levine pulled his license from active status and effectively retired from practicing medicine. He also severed ties with All Kinds of Minds.
The board's action today settles the case by permanently keeping Levine's license inactive. It means that Levine will never legally practice medicine again in North Carolina or anywhere else. But it does not resolve the issue of whether Levine is guilty of the charges.
Dr. George Saunders, the board chairman, said the board was conflicted about the consent order approved this morning.
"Our greatest discipline we could mete out on any licensee would be revocation or indefinite suspension", Saunders said. "This actually goes further than that."
Rather than determining that Levine did or did not behave inappropriately, the board instead said it was prepared to offer testimony about the patient exams and, if it could prove that they were inappropriate, would consider the conduct unprofessional and grounds for his license to be revoked.
But no testimony was offered, and no proof made. Thomas Mansfield, legal director of the medical board, said by not holding a hearing, the board kept vulnerable victims from having to testify publicly about their ordeals. "What we hear from patients generally is that their first goal is to make sure it doesn't happen to anyone else," he said.
Levine has consistently denied any wrongdoing, and insisted that his examinations of the boys was warranted to rule out any number of illnesses or developmental problems that might have contributed to the children's behaviors.
Let me be clear on this: If there is proof of a medical breach of trust so heinous as the sexual abuse of a child, as a doctor practicing in North Carolina, I want to hear about it. I want to know how these kids fell through the cracks (cracks at one of our most respected medical institutions) and I want to cement the cracks.
The citizens of North Carolina need to hear it too. What did or did not happen to these boys should have been thoroughly vetted through sworn testimony and cross-examination in a hearing (even if it was closed to protect the identities of the victims).
And if Melvin Levine was found culpable by a group of his medical peers, criminal charges should be sworn and he should be in jail.
AS IT STANDS, THIS IS JUST ANOTHER COVER-UP BY THE NCMB.
I have strong feelings about this because (1) I've been on the wrong side of a witchhunt and (2) I've also been the victim of a crime perpetrated by the very people welding the burning pitchforks. And all I have wanted to do is scream it from the rooftops - to bring the people who purposely and methodically hurt me to justice. Moreover, I've signed my name as I've begged and pleaded and raved, and I have taken every manner of sling & arrow in this blogosphere trying to get someone/anyone to MOVE . . . things have been said to me or about me that would make a truly "crazy" person jump off a cliff.
And yes, echoing the sentiment expressed by the Board's chief legal eagle, Thomas Mansfield, one of the primary motivations in my case is to make sure that what happened to me does not happen to another young/idealistic physician in public service.
But all I have heard in this blogosphere . . . from these "vulnerable victims" . . . who are adults now . . . and who have filed lawsuits in other states (i.e. public records) . . . and who have posted on blogs (anonymously) . . . often reaming me out for giving the world-renowned doctor the benefit of the doubt . . . is that they want the truth to come out.
I am sorry, in order for the truth to really come out, they have to step up. They need to sign their names and be vetted.
As far as I know Melvin Levine has not been practicing medicine anywhere since this story broke (he essentially retired), ergo, in point of fact, nothing substantive was accomplished by this "action". It's just one of those slippery, icky "no fault" deals in which the NCMB does not have to admit that medical oversight in this state SUCKS.
Someone very wise once told me (after the fact), that a settlement is called a settlement because no one leaves the table happy.
If Melvin Levine is truly innocent (and while I'm having a harder and harder time believing that, because of this piss-ant "deal" I do not know), he made a mistake in capitulating to the Board and what amounts to blackmail. He will always have a cloud over his life, his work and his name. And if he is innocent, that is not right or fair.
Moreover, he and the NCMB have establised an ominous precedent for innocent doctors to be blackmailed in the same fashion. This will, no doubt, have . . . what's that term I've heard in the blogosphere lately pertaining to quickly passed federal legislation? . . . "unforseen consequences" for "truly innocent" doctors in the future.
On the other hand, if these patients were truly victimized by this doctor . . . and think they will find any kind of "closure" in this mealy-mouthed deal . . . they need to think again. All of the money in the world will not bring them peace or wash the ick off.
The truth did not come out today.
I hate cover-ups.
I really, really, really HATE them.
Comments on this post are CLOSED. I don't want to hear from anybody on either side - ESPECIALLY if you cannot sign your name!
Author's note: Blogger is hiccuping again today. A number of typos have been corrected. Sorry.
The NC Medical Board today took action in the Melvin Levine case today that, to me . . . in terms of real accountability for doctors . . . and, as the victim of a different kind of rape . . . just reeks.
From the N&O article:
Dr. Mel Levine, a nationally renown pediatrician who pioneered educational methods for children with learning disabilities, will never practice medicine again under an agreement reached today with the N.C. Medical Board.
Five former male patients had accused Levine of conducting inappropriate genital examinations when they were seen for behavioral issues such as attention deficit disorder. Levine ran a clinic at UNC-Chapel Hill and founded a research institute called All Kinds of Minds.
The former patients' allegations sparked an investigation by the medical board, which licenses and disciplines doctors. Last year, Levine pulled his license from active status and effectively retired from practicing medicine. He also severed ties with All Kinds of Minds.
The board's action today settles the case by permanently keeping Levine's license inactive. It means that Levine will never legally practice medicine again in North Carolina or anywhere else. But it does not resolve the issue of whether Levine is guilty of the charges.
Dr. George Saunders, the board chairman, said the board was conflicted about the consent order approved this morning.
"Our greatest discipline we could mete out on any licensee would be revocation or indefinite suspension", Saunders said. "This actually goes further than that."
Rather than determining that Levine did or did not behave inappropriately, the board instead said it was prepared to offer testimony about the patient exams and, if it could prove that they were inappropriate, would consider the conduct unprofessional and grounds for his license to be revoked.
But no testimony was offered, and no proof made. Thomas Mansfield, legal director of the medical board, said by not holding a hearing, the board kept vulnerable victims from having to testify publicly about their ordeals. "What we hear from patients generally is that their first goal is to make sure it doesn't happen to anyone else," he said.
Levine has consistently denied any wrongdoing, and insisted that his examinations of the boys was warranted to rule out any number of illnesses or developmental problems that might have contributed to the children's behaviors.
Let me be clear on this: If there is proof of a medical breach of trust so heinous as the sexual abuse of a child, as a doctor practicing in North Carolina, I want to hear about it. I want to know how these kids fell through the cracks (cracks at one of our most respected medical institutions) and I want to cement the cracks.
The citizens of North Carolina need to hear it too. What did or did not happen to these boys should have been thoroughly vetted through sworn testimony and cross-examination in a hearing (even if it was closed to protect the identities of the victims).
And if Melvin Levine was found culpable by a group of his medical peers, criminal charges should be sworn and he should be in jail.
AS IT STANDS, THIS IS JUST ANOTHER COVER-UP BY THE NCMB.
I have strong feelings about this because (1) I've been on the wrong side of a witchhunt and (2) I've also been the victim of a crime perpetrated by the very people welding the burning pitchforks. And all I have wanted to do is scream it from the rooftops - to bring the people who purposely and methodically hurt me to justice. Moreover, I've signed my name as I've begged and pleaded and raved, and I have taken every manner of sling & arrow in this blogosphere trying to get someone/anyone to MOVE . . . things have been said to me or about me that would make a truly "crazy" person jump off a cliff.
And yes, echoing the sentiment expressed by the Board's chief legal eagle, Thomas Mansfield, one of the primary motivations in my case is to make sure that what happened to me does not happen to another young/idealistic physician in public service.
But all I have heard in this blogosphere . . . from these "vulnerable victims" . . . who are adults now . . . and who have filed lawsuits in other states (i.e. public records) . . . and who have posted on blogs (anonymously) . . . often reaming me out for giving the world-renowned doctor the benefit of the doubt . . . is that they want the truth to come out.
I am sorry, in order for the truth to really come out, they have to step up. They need to sign their names and be vetted.
As far as I know Melvin Levine has not been practicing medicine anywhere since this story broke (he essentially retired), ergo, in point of fact, nothing substantive was accomplished by this "action". It's just one of those slippery, icky "no fault" deals in which the NCMB does not have to admit that medical oversight in this state SUCKS.
Someone very wise once told me (after the fact), that a settlement is called a settlement because no one leaves the table happy.
If Melvin Levine is truly innocent (and while I'm having a harder and harder time believing that, because of this piss-ant "deal" I do not know), he made a mistake in capitulating to the Board and what amounts to blackmail. He will always have a cloud over his life, his work and his name. And if he is innocent, that is not right or fair.
Moreover, he and the NCMB have establised an ominous precedent for innocent doctors to be blackmailed in the same fashion. This will, no doubt, have . . . what's that term I've heard in the blogosphere lately pertaining to quickly passed federal legislation? . . . "unforseen consequences" for "truly innocent" doctors in the future.
On the other hand, if these patients were truly victimized by this doctor . . . and think they will find any kind of "closure" in this mealy-mouthed deal . . . they need to think again. All of the money in the world will not bring them peace or wash the ick off.
The truth did not come out today.
I hate cover-ups.
I really, really, really HATE them.
Comments on this post are CLOSED. I don't want to hear from anybody on either side - ESPECIALLY if you cannot sign your name!
Author's note: Blogger is hiccuping again today. A number of typos have been corrected. Sorry.
Thursday, March 19, 2009
The Choices We Make
In terms of our upbringing, Michelle Obama and I actually have a lot in common. We had working-class parents who did not have a lot of money . . . but who gave a damn and stayed together even in hard times . . . who instilled values and a work ethic . . . who sent us to public school . . . and who gifted us with the will and drive to succeed.
But Michelle was actually much smarter than I was in one of the choices she made. She went to business school and became a hospital administrator. I just became a doctor.
Michelle Obama made piles of money pretty much from the get-go. I worked for years in indentured servitude for years only to find my skills and abilities dismissed (by hospital administrators just like Michelle) as worth "a dime a dozen".
So I have news for the First Lady. Just being the "smart one" . . . working hard and being disciplined and making the right choices . . . and (most of all) having the right answer . . . doesn't always work.
Especially in Asheboro, North Carolina.
But Michelle was actually much smarter than I was in one of the choices she made. She went to business school and became a hospital administrator. I just became a doctor.
Michelle Obama made piles of money pretty much from the get-go. I worked for years in indentured servitude for years only to find my skills and abilities dismissed (by hospital administrators just like Michelle) as worth "a dime a dozen".
So I have news for the First Lady. Just being the "smart one" . . . working hard and being disciplined and making the right choices . . . and (most of all) having the right answer . . . doesn't always work.
Especially in Asheboro, North Carolina.
Maybe If My Cats . . .
. . . crapped money, my case could get the attention of the News & Observer and the national press?
Out Of The Legal Files: How The Series Will Progress
A friend asked me last night where "Part Three" in my series out of the legal files (see the sidebar) was.
I am still working on it. It is the most gut-wrenching/PTSD-generating (for me) part of the story, and writing it is not easy. It could be another week before it's up, as I am planning a short blogging break.
I did not realize the toll this trip down memory lane would take on me emotionally. I know I project a very "tough broad" facade online. But that's what wounded animals do.
Right now, here's how the series is going to progress (I kinda feel like Bledsoe here):
"Part Three" is going to tell the whole story of the decision/night that got me fired - when I had to defy Mike Bridges's edicts and directly challenge the actions of another doctor in order to help a critically-ill newborn infant.
"Part Four" is going to outline, point by ugly point, the wrongful termination of a doctor in public service that NOT ONE state or federal oversight agency has cared to do anything about about in eleven years (once again, Bev Perdue does not get to talk to me about how much she or the great state of North Carolina values "the truth" . . . that's just bleeping hurl-worthy).
"Part Five" will detail events during RMA's six-month "notice" period" . . . including the death of an extremely premature infant I was not able to go in and evaluate (when another doctor asked) because RMA Director Mike Bridges had canceled my malpractice insurance prematurely (it kind of dispels the myth/lie put forward by the hospital that I was "free" to do anything during that period).
And I am still wrestling with posting "Shalala" as "Part Six". It's not a decision I have to make today.
After that, I'm not sure, but I will likely start posting letters from the legal file one or two at a time (as an extended "Part Seven") . . . first, the letters of colleagues (starting with Drs. Nancy Toy and Laurie Anderson's letters to JCAHO supporting the veracity of "Shalala") . . . colleagues who had nothing but wonderful things to say about me (never mind that, with the exceptions already noted, most of them took a dive back into their comfort zones in terms of doing anything substantive to help me when this all went down) . . . and second, the letters of parents who wrote in to complain about my departure. And getting all those up one or two at a time could take a month or so.
I am doing the bit with the letters not because I am conceited or it's "all about" me, but because Bob Morrison and Steven Eblin have held every floor that mattered for every bit of eleven years. And in their warped version (fueled primarily by a jealous "partner" posing as my "representative" to management), I was "not a team player". I was "arrogant and cliquish". I was "difficult" and my behavior was "embarrassing" or "disruptive".
The picture they painted of me in order to save their sorry, greedy, lying asses is not me.
But the myth of Mary as "bitch" is one that's taken hold over the years because of what I've had to do in order to fight back.
Let's just say that the other parents whose letters I will post did not agree AT ALL with Dr. Cheryl Freeman. But none of them were nearly as important as she was.
That's the way it is in Asheboro. And it's a huge part of the reason the town is "dying".
I am still working on it. It is the most gut-wrenching/PTSD-generating (for me) part of the story, and writing it is not easy. It could be another week before it's up, as I am planning a short blogging break.
I did not realize the toll this trip down memory lane would take on me emotionally. I know I project a very "tough broad" facade online. But that's what wounded animals do.
Right now, here's how the series is going to progress (I kinda feel like Bledsoe here):
"Part Three" is going to tell the whole story of the decision/night that got me fired - when I had to defy Mike Bridges's edicts and directly challenge the actions of another doctor in order to help a critically-ill newborn infant.
"Part Four" is going to outline, point by ugly point, the wrongful termination of a doctor in public service that NOT ONE state or federal oversight agency has cared to do anything about about in eleven years (once again, Bev Perdue does not get to talk to me about how much she or the great state of North Carolina values "the truth" . . . that's just bleeping hurl-worthy).
"Part Five" will detail events during RMA's six-month "notice" period" . . . including the death of an extremely premature infant I was not able to go in and evaluate (when another doctor asked) because RMA Director Mike Bridges had canceled my malpractice insurance prematurely (it kind of dispels the myth/lie put forward by the hospital that I was "free" to do anything during that period).
And I am still wrestling with posting "Shalala" as "Part Six". It's not a decision I have to make today.
After that, I'm not sure, but I will likely start posting letters from the legal file one or two at a time (as an extended "Part Seven") . . . first, the letters of colleagues (starting with Drs. Nancy Toy and Laurie Anderson's letters to JCAHO supporting the veracity of "Shalala") . . . colleagues who had nothing but wonderful things to say about me (never mind that, with the exceptions already noted, most of them took a dive back into their comfort zones in terms of doing anything substantive to help me when this all went down) . . . and second, the letters of parents who wrote in to complain about my departure. And getting all those up one or two at a time could take a month or so.
I am doing the bit with the letters not because I am conceited or it's "all about" me, but because Bob Morrison and Steven Eblin have held every floor that mattered for every bit of eleven years. And in their warped version (fueled primarily by a jealous "partner" posing as my "representative" to management), I was "not a team player". I was "arrogant and cliquish". I was "difficult" and my behavior was "embarrassing" or "disruptive".
The picture they painted of me in order to save their sorry, greedy, lying asses is not me.
But the myth of Mary as "bitch" is one that's taken hold over the years because of what I've had to do in order to fight back.
Let's just say that the other parents whose letters I will post did not agree AT ALL with Dr. Cheryl Freeman. But none of them were nearly as important as she was.
That's the way it is in Asheboro. And it's a huge part of the reason the town is "dying".
Wednesday, March 18, 2009
On Rachel Hunter: My Crystal Ball
It appears the "progressive" local blogosphere is determined to maintain radio silence on the N.C. State Bar's aggressive attempt to strip a blogging ex-judicial candidate of her law license.
The "issue" of such vital importance to the legal & judicial safety of the voting public is Rachel Hunter's use of the online moniker, "Madame Justice".
The hearing is scheduled for Friday.
I'm going to get out my crystal ball (it's blue - no really, I have one and it's blue) and predict it will go something like this:
This is a Star Chamber . . . a politically-motivated dog & pony show along the lines of the Nifong sacrifice . . . and the deal is already done. The Bar will go through all the motions of a fair hearing, but barring something unforeseen, Rachel will lose. I'd bet real money that the Bar will attempt to divert attention away from what they are doing to Rachel and why by attacking Rachel's husband, Connie (who is not on trial). Rachel & Connie's campaign rhetoric (i.e. the political correctness of political speech) will also figure prominently as a diversionary tactic.
As an aside, a great quote from the 1995 movie, The American President, immediately comes to mind (I guess nobody at the Bar saw it - but of course, it's a chick flick and the Bar is nothing if not a good-ole-boys club):
"You want free speech? Let's see you acknowledge a man whose words make your blood boil, who's standing center stage and advocating at the top of his lungs that which you would spend a lifetime opposing at the top of yours."
I suspect the Raleigh press has already been alerted to the done deal and will be there to snap pictures when Rachel leaves the chamber. Brian Oten will primp and preen for the camera (hope he takes a better picture than this).
I did not used to be this cynical.
And North Carolina's MSM will no doubt dutifully be there to peddle the Bar's spin that a licensed professional's Free Speech . . . indeed a judicial candidate's free speech . . . is something to be squelched in North Carolina.
Bloggers like Cone and Hoggard and Roch and such will likely gleefully pile on . . . thinking they are dancing on Rachel's political grave. She's "batshit crazy" after all.
Here's my final prediction. Rachel (and Connie) will not go down without a fight. Expect a quick move to Federal Court . . . first to get a stay . . . and then to file a big PHAT lawsuit on First Amendment grounds.
But of course, the N.C. State Bar does not care about that. When they lose that lawsuit (and they will), it's just OPM (other people's money).
Yours and mine.
The "issue" of such vital importance to the legal & judicial safety of the voting public is Rachel Hunter's use of the online moniker, "Madame Justice".
The hearing is scheduled for Friday.
I'm going to get out my crystal ball (it's blue - no really, I have one and it's blue) and predict it will go something like this:
This is a Star Chamber . . . a politically-motivated dog & pony show along the lines of the Nifong sacrifice . . . and the deal is already done. The Bar will go through all the motions of a fair hearing, but barring something unforeseen, Rachel will lose. I'd bet real money that the Bar will attempt to divert attention away from what they are doing to Rachel and why by attacking Rachel's husband, Connie (who is not on trial). Rachel & Connie's campaign rhetoric (i.e. the political correctness of political speech) will also figure prominently as a diversionary tactic.
As an aside, a great quote from the 1995 movie, The American President, immediately comes to mind (I guess nobody at the Bar saw it - but of course, it's a chick flick and the Bar is nothing if not a good-ole-boys club):
"You want free speech? Let's see you acknowledge a man whose words make your blood boil, who's standing center stage and advocating at the top of his lungs that which you would spend a lifetime opposing at the top of yours."
I suspect the Raleigh press has already been alerted to the done deal and will be there to snap pictures when Rachel leaves the chamber. Brian Oten will primp and preen for the camera (hope he takes a better picture than this).
I did not used to be this cynical.
And North Carolina's MSM will no doubt dutifully be there to peddle the Bar's spin that a licensed professional's Free Speech . . . indeed a judicial candidate's free speech . . . is something to be squelched in North Carolina.
Bloggers like Cone and Hoggard and Roch and such will likely gleefully pile on . . . thinking they are dancing on Rachel's political grave. She's "batshit crazy" after all.
Here's my final prediction. Rachel (and Connie) will not go down without a fight. Expect a quick move to Federal Court . . . first to get a stay . . . and then to file a big PHAT lawsuit on First Amendment grounds.
But of course, the N.C. State Bar does not care about that. When they lose that lawsuit (and they will), it's just OPM (other people's money).
Yours and mine.
When "Newshounds" Attack
This must be what it feels like to be "Trouble" or Guarino.
Minding my own business this afternoon . . . doing mental gymnastics over the possible purchase of the perfect "red Ford truck" that just dropped out of the sky . . . I just took a very nasty anonymous unsolicited phone call from someone who only identified herself as "one of the local newshounds" (the phone number was 336-465-4636). She said that since I was so "into everybody's business" that the Bradsaw lawsuit against the city of Asheboro has been moved/re-filed in Federal Court in Greensboro.
I suppose my anonymous source does not get that lawsuits are public record . . . or that people can have opinions about them . . . or that given what I've been through at the hands of all the "right people", I actually enthusiastically SUPPORT any effort to STICK IT to the City of Asheboro right now.
Before she hung up, I told my anonymous source to go back and read my original post on the subject - in its entirety. I'm on her side. At least I think I am.
Lady, nobody's laughing at you. They're laughing because one of the "little people" is doing something to stick it to the city that has stuck it to so many.
I just love it when people take things out of context . . . just like Randolph Hospital did with the "Shalala complaint" in their despicable little "libel" lawsuit.
My anonymous informant was talking so fast I did not get all the particulars of the move to Federal Court.
But if it's true, that should be VERY interesting.
I actually did a follow-up post . . . and really did intend to try and get a copy of the lawsuit - in order to understand who/what was involved and its premise. But I work out-of-town (for reasons we've well-established), and if the lady with the snotty attitude wants me to do more on this blog to get her word out, she's or her lawyers are gonna have to send me the information (in other words, if people don't understand what you're doing, try explaining it to them).
Copies of (or links to) the filed complaints would be nice.
And keep in mind that the way I present things usually depends on how people treat me.
(Addendum/Translation: Lie to/about, cheat, steal from and/or slander me, and I will chase you to hell and back - eat a sandwich - and chase you some more. But show courtesy, kindness and compassion - don't take me for granted - tell me the truth - treat me fairly/appreciate what I do - and I'm your friend forever. It's something Bob Morrison and Steven Eblin - and several other players in the Asheboro epic - never understood.)
And I'd wager my anonymous source is probably calling me because she's learned the hard way that the newshounds at the Courier could take weeks to report/spin it. In fact the original link on the Courier's website has been killed.
If a story embarrasses the big guns in this town, it gets buried and it gets buried quick. Been there, done that - had my closet full of scrubs stolen.
Lady, it's not my fault the newspaper here sucks up.
Actually, it just sucks.
If she's lucky the N&R will pick it up. They have such a great history down here.
My "source" ended with the jab that the lawyers (?her lawyers?) involved could probably do something for me.
Well, if she's got my number (and I don't know how that happened), then so do they. But given past experience with the oh-so-noble legal profession, I won't be holding my breath.
3/19 Update: A reader and I were conversing earlier today about my "source" gloating over the move to Federal court.
Yeah, it's good to get it out of Randolph County. No argument there.
But (as I have been told by every doctor who has ever tried to go that route with a complaint like mine), doing the dance in Federal Court can suck (1) the life - YEARS of your life - out of you, and (2) all of the money out of your bank account. And barring a settlement, you could very well "win" initially, but then be crushed by the very conservative/establishment-loving appellate Court. So the only people who usually win on that deal are the lawyers. I cannot imagine any "damage" the Bradshaws suffered being worth the cost.
Likewise, the local press coverage will likely be nil (of course, if JR reads this, he'll probably pick up the guantlet just to prove me wrong;): "It's not hot enough for the N&R, and the CT only wants good news to come forth" (ergo, the reason we in dying "wet" Asheboro are not hearing about all the bar brawls).
But good luck to these folks. If they are angry at me, they're angry at the wrong person.
And again, if the "source" ever wants to forward me a copy of the complaint(s), I'll look. But I'm not a journalist, and I won't be doing any legwork for them now.
Minding my own business this afternoon . . . doing mental gymnastics over the possible purchase of the perfect "red Ford truck" that just dropped out of the sky . . . I just took a very nasty anonymous unsolicited phone call from someone who only identified herself as "one of the local newshounds" (the phone number was 336-465-4636). She said that since I was so "into everybody's business" that the Bradsaw lawsuit against the city of Asheboro has been moved/re-filed in Federal Court in Greensboro.
I suppose my anonymous source does not get that lawsuits are public record . . . or that people can have opinions about them . . . or that given what I've been through at the hands of all the "right people", I actually enthusiastically SUPPORT any effort to STICK IT to the City of Asheboro right now.
Before she hung up, I told my anonymous source to go back and read my original post on the subject - in its entirety. I'm on her side. At least I think I am.
Lady, nobody's laughing at you. They're laughing because one of the "little people" is doing something to stick it to the city that has stuck it to so many.
I just love it when people take things out of context . . . just like Randolph Hospital did with the "Shalala complaint" in their despicable little "libel" lawsuit.
My anonymous informant was talking so fast I did not get all the particulars of the move to Federal Court.
But if it's true, that should be VERY interesting.
I actually did a follow-up post . . . and really did intend to try and get a copy of the lawsuit - in order to understand who/what was involved and its premise. But I work out-of-town (for reasons we've well-established), and if the lady with the snotty attitude wants me to do more on this blog to get her word out, she's or her lawyers are gonna have to send me the information (in other words, if people don't understand what you're doing, try explaining it to them).
Copies of (or links to) the filed complaints would be nice.
And keep in mind that the way I present things usually depends on how people treat me.
(Addendum/Translation: Lie to/about, cheat, steal from and/or slander me, and I will chase you to hell and back - eat a sandwich - and chase you some more. But show courtesy, kindness and compassion - don't take me for granted - tell me the truth - treat me fairly/appreciate what I do - and I'm your friend forever. It's something Bob Morrison and Steven Eblin - and several other players in the Asheboro epic - never understood.)
And I'd wager my anonymous source is probably calling me because she's learned the hard way that the newshounds at the Courier could take weeks to report/spin it. In fact the original link on the Courier's website has been killed.
If a story embarrasses the big guns in this town, it gets buried and it gets buried quick. Been there, done that - had my closet full of scrubs stolen.
Lady, it's not my fault the newspaper here sucks up.
Actually, it just sucks.
If she's lucky the N&R will pick it up. They have such a great history down here.
My "source" ended with the jab that the lawyers (?her lawyers?) involved could probably do something for me.
Well, if she's got my number (and I don't know how that happened), then so do they. But given past experience with the oh-so-noble legal profession, I won't be holding my breath.
3/19 Update: A reader and I were conversing earlier today about my "source" gloating over the move to Federal court.
Yeah, it's good to get it out of Randolph County. No argument there.
But (as I have been told by every doctor who has ever tried to go that route with a complaint like mine), doing the dance in Federal Court can suck (1) the life - YEARS of your life - out of you, and (2) all of the money out of your bank account. And barring a settlement, you could very well "win" initially, but then be crushed by the very conservative/establishment-loving appellate Court. So the only people who usually win on that deal are the lawyers. I cannot imagine any "damage" the Bradshaws suffered being worth the cost.
Likewise, the local press coverage will likely be nil (of course, if JR reads this, he'll probably pick up the guantlet just to prove me wrong;): "It's not hot enough for the N&R, and the CT only wants good news to come forth" (ergo, the reason we in dying "wet" Asheboro are not hearing about all the bar brawls).
But good luck to these folks. If they are angry at me, they're angry at the wrong person.
And again, if the "source" ever wants to forward me a copy of the complaint(s), I'll look. But I'm not a journalist, and I won't be doing any legwork for them now.
It's TOO LITTLE, TOO LATE, Bev! Now It's NOT Good Enough!
Sayeth NC Governor Beverly Perdue (it's in progressive blue) "I've decided I would rather tell the truth, even when it's bad news, than hide behind the protection of law."
It's a real headline-grabber. The newspapers eat it up. But I am sorry, folks. That is not just a lie, it is a DAMNED LIE.
In my situation with Randolph Hospital (in which standards of patient care were most certainly violated), ALL the NC Medical Board and DHHS and NC Attorney General's office have done FROM DAY ONE - eleven years ago - is hide from the truth. They have let people spit on ethical canons and break the law and they have not done a damned thing!
A Pediatrician in public service who did the right thing - by the nurses who called her and the patient who needed her - saw her life and career splattered all over the White Wall by well-networked, "right-people" . . . "non-profit" executives who wanted her to shut up and go away.
And the FACT is that the great state of North Carolina took a dive. There was no oversight. Nobody gave a rat's tail about the truth.
They still don't.
I'm supposed to read self-serving GARBAGE like this in the paper . . . from this Governor . . . this woman who tossed my desperate letters pleading for help into file 13 . . . this woman who parties with Bob and appoints "Evil" Keith to lead us into the future . . . and not vomit!?!
It's not just about what has been going on in state-owned mental hospitals, people. It's about hospitals everywhere . . . especially "non-profits".
WAKE UP! You've been lied to for years!
It's a real headline-grabber. The newspapers eat it up. But I am sorry, folks. That is not just a lie, it is a DAMNED LIE.
In my situation with Randolph Hospital (in which standards of patient care were most certainly violated), ALL the NC Medical Board and DHHS and NC Attorney General's office have done FROM DAY ONE - eleven years ago - is hide from the truth. They have let people spit on ethical canons and break the law and they have not done a damned thing!
A Pediatrician in public service who did the right thing - by the nurses who called her and the patient who needed her - saw her life and career splattered all over the White Wall by well-networked, "right-people" . . . "non-profit" executives who wanted her to shut up and go away.
And the FACT is that the great state of North Carolina took a dive. There was no oversight. Nobody gave a rat's tail about the truth.
They still don't.
I'm supposed to read self-serving GARBAGE like this in the paper . . . from this Governor . . . this woman who tossed my desperate letters pleading for help into file 13 . . . this woman who parties with Bob and appoints "Evil" Keith to lead us into the future . . . and not vomit!?!
It's not just about what has been going on in state-owned mental hospitals, people. It's about hospitals everywhere . . . especially "non-profits".
WAKE UP! You've been lied to for years!
When The Medical Blogosphere Sinks Below The Curb
There is much twittering and morbid speculation in the medical blogosphere today regarding the extent and severity of actress Natasha Richardson's injuries following a fall during a ski holiday.
It's turning my stomach. Even Kevin chimed in. And that turned my stomach:
Kevin, I think it is very inappropriate to be involved, in any way, in all of the speculation (and that's what it is - people "showing off" their medical knowledge) surrounding Ms. Richardson's condition.
In point of fact, by chiming in, you're just another pundit here.
My thoughts and prayers are with Ms. Richardson, her husband, sons, Mother and family. And that is the ONLY message we as physicians should be sending to them right now.
Their lives should not be reduced to public service announcements - or policy debates.
Evening Update: Natasha Richardson succumbed to her injuries. She was an incredibly gifted actress - lovely and vibrant on stage and screen. This is just incredibly sad.
It's turning my stomach. Even Kevin chimed in. And that turned my stomach:
Kevin, I think it is very inappropriate to be involved, in any way, in all of the speculation (and that's what it is - people "showing off" their medical knowledge) surrounding Ms. Richardson's condition.
In point of fact, by chiming in, you're just another pundit here.
My thoughts and prayers are with Ms. Richardson, her husband, sons, Mother and family. And that is the ONLY message we as physicians should be sending to them right now.
Their lives should not be reduced to public service announcements - or policy debates.
Evening Update: Natasha Richardson succumbed to her injuries. She was an incredibly gifted actress - lovely and vibrant on stage and screen. This is just incredibly sad.
Ron Silver: A Beautiful Mind
I very much liked Ron Silver - as an actor - and as a man. He exuded exceptional intelligence and integrity . . . combining intensity and wit in rare form. He also was a man who lived with the courage of his convictions. We need more men like him. And I am sorry he is gone.
My Side Of The Meter
It's no secret. I was one of the folks on the Mountain that fought annexation. I didn't mince any words.
I thought it was a stupid idea - mostly because I live in the valley of what is honestly a glorified rock jutting out of the earth (with a little dirt plastered on top), and if the city of Asheboro ever had ANY inkling it would someday want to take the Mountain in, developers should have made the plans and laid all the sewer lines way back then. It's called "vision".
Back then, the city of Asheboro's was most assuredly not 20/20.
Developers should have maintained the roads too - but that is another story.
Dynamiting solid rock now - to put in crappy (forgive the pun) sewer lines (and crappy, pseudo-substandard lines are exactly what the city proposed) - will tear up private property and break windows and damage foundations and screw over residents over FOR YEARS. And the return on the tax dollar, if there is any at all, will be a very, very long time coming or nil.
In the meantime, the folks in Asheboro proper will bear the cost.
"Because we can" is not a reason. And I got enough of that from Bob and Steve.
Of course, I suffer under no illusion that the city will not try again. They're hoping the current state-wide uproar over annexation will die down.
I also know that when they come for us again, one of the strategies of the powers-that-be will be to paint the "Mountain crowd" as the people who shoved alcohol down Asheboro's throat.
There is still a WHOLE LOT of resentment on the street about that from the "anti-whos".
Of course, the notion that everybody on the Mountain wanted alcohol IS A LIE.
And, we did not get a vote.
But the facts pertaining to anything or anyone they can steam-roll are not something that Asheboro's "who's" trouble themselves too much about.
Anyway, for several months, my water bill from the city of Asheboro was very, very high (to dispel another myth, we folks on the Mountain pay for our water - and we pay more than the residents of Asheboro-proper). Admittedly, I do have a friend living in/sitting the house while I am gone, but we're just not using that much water.
Back in November, I called the city and asked them to check the meter. I was told I must have a leak somewhere and that I needed to get a plumber to the house. After much searching, we actually did find a problem with the water heater and it was replaced.
But my bill remained high. It made no sense.
My housesitter called this week to say that she returned home from a weekend business trip to find colorful notices plastered all over my front and garage doors . . . announcing that I obviously still had a water leak and I needed to take immediate action.
Now, there was no evidence of a leak anywhere in or under the house, so I called the man who is finishing up on rennovations there for me, and asked him to check things out. I also called the city again. Something was clearly wrong - and I wondered if it was the meter itself.
OBTW, I just love doing this all long-distance.
A short while later my handi-man called and told me that the meter was more-or-less busted (something about roots from nearby trees - many of us chose to live on the Mountain in order to enjoy its flora and fauna). I asked him, "Isn't the meter the city's problem?". He responded (very dryly), "Not if it's on your side"?
I mused aloud, "What the hell does that mean?" He chuckled and said he'd get back to me once he dug it all up.
Meanwhile, I call the city and chewed on some poor clerk's ear. I reiterated that I had asked the city to check the meter months ago (in other words, do something besides just read it). I had asked about pressure on the line and valves. The city had been less-than-helpful.
Moreover, I had been informed then that even if there was tremendous pressure on the line (which could blow out my pipes & lines), it was not the city's problem (???). I had to put in a pressure valve.
You could liken it to being forced to live with a crappy sewer line only two inches in diameter . . . as one crusty long-time resident (who must have been channeling my Dad) once said (paraphrasing), "It's not even big enough for a small TURD".
I can hear the city now. If I turded large, that would be my problem.
I told the poor beleaguered clerk that I wanted somebody out there like YESTERDAY. Moreover, the City of Asheboro knew very well that I am out of town most of the time (no thanks to the "right people" Council members always listen to) . . . and leaving colorful messages plastered all over the house when no one was home did not cut it. I had a cell phone, and they had the number.
As it stands, my water bill has been high for months - and it appears I may have been over-billed by the city of Asheboro because of a defect with the meter. I asked the immortal question, "Is this the kind of service we Mountain folk could expect after annexation?"
Long story short, the meter is dead. And it's dead on both sides. And it's going to have to be replaced. A good part of that is the city's problem. People are digging today. When Asheboro does its part, I'll do mine.
I mused over this all day yesterday. It's actually very much like the problem I had with Randolph Hospital.
I did my part. And then some.
I'm still waiting for the hospital to do theirs.
I thought it was a stupid idea - mostly because I live in the valley of what is honestly a glorified rock jutting out of the earth (with a little dirt plastered on top), and if the city of Asheboro ever had ANY inkling it would someday want to take the Mountain in, developers should have made the plans and laid all the sewer lines way back then. It's called "vision".
Back then, the city of Asheboro's was most assuredly not 20/20.
Developers should have maintained the roads too - but that is another story.
Dynamiting solid rock now - to put in crappy (forgive the pun) sewer lines (and crappy, pseudo-substandard lines are exactly what the city proposed) - will tear up private property and break windows and damage foundations and screw over residents over FOR YEARS. And the return on the tax dollar, if there is any at all, will be a very, very long time coming or nil.
In the meantime, the folks in Asheboro proper will bear the cost.
"Because we can" is not a reason. And I got enough of that from Bob and Steve.
Of course, I suffer under no illusion that the city will not try again. They're hoping the current state-wide uproar over annexation will die down.
I also know that when they come for us again, one of the strategies of the powers-that-be will be to paint the "Mountain crowd" as the people who shoved alcohol down Asheboro's throat.
There is still a WHOLE LOT of resentment on the street about that from the "anti-whos".
Of course, the notion that everybody on the Mountain wanted alcohol IS A LIE.
And, we did not get a vote.
But the facts pertaining to anything or anyone they can steam-roll are not something that Asheboro's "who's" trouble themselves too much about.
Anyway, for several months, my water bill from the city of Asheboro was very, very high (to dispel another myth, we folks on the Mountain pay for our water - and we pay more than the residents of Asheboro-proper). Admittedly, I do have a friend living in/sitting the house while I am gone, but we're just not using that much water.
Back in November, I called the city and asked them to check the meter. I was told I must have a leak somewhere and that I needed to get a plumber to the house. After much searching, we actually did find a problem with the water heater and it was replaced.
But my bill remained high. It made no sense.
My housesitter called this week to say that she returned home from a weekend business trip to find colorful notices plastered all over my front and garage doors . . . announcing that I obviously still had a water leak and I needed to take immediate action.
Now, there was no evidence of a leak anywhere in or under the house, so I called the man who is finishing up on rennovations there for me, and asked him to check things out. I also called the city again. Something was clearly wrong - and I wondered if it was the meter itself.
OBTW, I just love doing this all long-distance.
A short while later my handi-man called and told me that the meter was more-or-less busted (something about roots from nearby trees - many of us chose to live on the Mountain in order to enjoy its flora and fauna). I asked him, "Isn't the meter the city's problem?". He responded (very dryly), "Not if it's on your side"?
I mused aloud, "What the hell does that mean?" He chuckled and said he'd get back to me once he dug it all up.
Meanwhile, I call the city and chewed on some poor clerk's ear. I reiterated that I had asked the city to check the meter months ago (in other words, do something besides just read it). I had asked about pressure on the line and valves. The city had been less-than-helpful.
Moreover, I had been informed then that even if there was tremendous pressure on the line (which could blow out my pipes & lines), it was not the city's problem (???). I had to put in a pressure valve.
You could liken it to being forced to live with a crappy sewer line only two inches in diameter . . . as one crusty long-time resident (who must have been channeling my Dad) once said (paraphrasing), "It's not even big enough for a small TURD".
I can hear the city now. If I turded large, that would be my problem.
I told the poor beleaguered clerk that I wanted somebody out there like YESTERDAY. Moreover, the City of Asheboro knew very well that I am out of town most of the time (no thanks to the "right people" Council members always listen to) . . . and leaving colorful messages plastered all over the house when no one was home did not cut it. I had a cell phone, and they had the number.
As it stands, my water bill has been high for months - and it appears I may have been over-billed by the city of Asheboro because of a defect with the meter. I asked the immortal question, "Is this the kind of service we Mountain folk could expect after annexation?"
Long story short, the meter is dead. And it's dead on both sides. And it's going to have to be replaced. A good part of that is the city's problem. People are digging today. When Asheboro does its part, I'll do mine.
I mused over this all day yesterday. It's actually very much like the problem I had with Randolph Hospital.
I did my part. And then some.
I'm still waiting for the hospital to do theirs.
Tuesday, March 17, 2009
The NC Medical Board And Transparency: Just Damned Odd
I am researching "Part Three" of my current series out of the legal files. Part of the story is, of course, how thoroughly the North Carolina Medical Board squelched my complaint against the physician I got fired for rescuing/reporting to medical peer review in January 1998.
That would be Mick Irwin . . . employed by Asheboro Family Physicians - then owned by LeBauer Healthcare, owned by Cone Hospital.
I for sure don't owe Mick anything.
A complaint was filed with the Medical Board when my "notice" at RMA was up. I waited as I did not want to be fired "for cause" (that's a big part of "Part 3"). Plays hell with the CV.
The Medical Board complaint was dismissed with a behind-the-scenes slap on the hand for Dr. Irwin (translation: no public file) several months after it was filed. And, as soon as it was dismissed, I was SOL and on my own. The Board, while tweaking Irwin for his bad behavior, did not lift a finger to help me with my "problems".
Never mind that my problems existed because I put a patient first and exercised my duty to report (expecting to be protected when I did it).
I did not realize it, but the cover-up was more or less complete/state-sanctioned. It was just a matter of me being screwed over by the lawyers.
I e-mailed the Information Office at the Medical Board this morning and asked for a list of the members of the N.C. Medical Board during the years 1998-2000. I asked that their bios be included.
A short while later (the Board's response time is much better than it used to be), I got an e-mail with the lists I requested . . . but with the following disclaimer: "I am sorry but we do not keep their affiliation information."
In 1998, a Greensboro-area physician served on the N.C. Medical Board (indeed, I was warned before I filed the complaint that I could be spitting in the wind because of this physician and his associations).
As a medical "nobody", it is not very hard to imagine that phone calls were made.
I thought it very odd that, given the fact we physicians have to supply the Board with all kinds of background information in order to get and renew our licenses, that "affliation information" for MEMBERS of the NC Medical Board was not available.
So I fired off another e-mail:
. . . just to be clear, the N.C. Medical Board does not archive the biographies of its past members???
Here is the response:
Dr. Johnson,
You are correct. We do not keep biographies of our past board members.
Maureen Bedell
Executive Assistant/Verification Coordinator
And I am sorry people. For a state regulatory agency that has been preaching transparency and accountability until our ears bleed, this is just damned odd.
We're all accountable except them?
Par for my course, anyway.
Late Evening Update: More research. Interesting website/opinion. Can't say I disagree.
North Carolina ranks as one of the more difficult State Medical Boards. The North Carolina Board Members can be quite arbitrary in their decisions . . . As with many Southern Medical Boards, the decision process over whether to issue a license or not many times can be based on the personality of the individual board members and not on the facts of the Physician's credentials.
Let's review the facts in my case: Doctor A screws up. Barely gets slapped on hand by the NC Medical Board. Ultimately, Doctor A becomes Chief of Staff at Randolph Hospital.
Doctor B (told less than 48 hours previously to "shut up or else"), answering the pleas of the nursing staff, rescues Doctor A (who screwed up). By all accounts Doctor B saves the patient's life. Doctor B reports incident to hospital peer review. Two weeks later, Doctor B is fired by Randolph Hospital. The NC Medical Board does not move a muscle to help her.
I'm not even sure that's "arbitrary".
That would be Mick Irwin . . . employed by Asheboro Family Physicians - then owned by LeBauer Healthcare, owned by Cone Hospital.
I for sure don't owe Mick anything.
A complaint was filed with the Medical Board when my "notice" at RMA was up. I waited as I did not want to be fired "for cause" (that's a big part of "Part 3"). Plays hell with the CV.
The Medical Board complaint was dismissed with a behind-the-scenes slap on the hand for Dr. Irwin (translation: no public file) several months after it was filed. And, as soon as it was dismissed, I was SOL and on my own. The Board, while tweaking Irwin for his bad behavior, did not lift a finger to help me with my "problems".
Never mind that my problems existed because I put a patient first and exercised my duty to report (expecting to be protected when I did it).
I did not realize it, but the cover-up was more or less complete/state-sanctioned. It was just a matter of me being screwed over by the lawyers.
I e-mailed the Information Office at the Medical Board this morning and asked for a list of the members of the N.C. Medical Board during the years 1998-2000. I asked that their bios be included.
A short while later (the Board's response time is much better than it used to be), I got an e-mail with the lists I requested . . . but with the following disclaimer: "I am sorry but we do not keep their affiliation information."
In 1998, a Greensboro-area physician served on the N.C. Medical Board (indeed, I was warned before I filed the complaint that I could be spitting in the wind because of this physician and his associations).
As a medical "nobody", it is not very hard to imagine that phone calls were made.
I thought it very odd that, given the fact we physicians have to supply the Board with all kinds of background information in order to get and renew our licenses, that "affliation information" for MEMBERS of the NC Medical Board was not available.
So I fired off another e-mail:
. . . just to be clear, the N.C. Medical Board does not archive the biographies of its past members???
Here is the response:
Dr. Johnson,
You are correct. We do not keep biographies of our past board members.
Maureen Bedell
Executive Assistant/Verification Coordinator
And I am sorry people. For a state regulatory agency that has been preaching transparency and accountability until our ears bleed, this is just damned odd.
We're all accountable except them?
Par for my course, anyway.
Late Evening Update: More research. Interesting website/opinion. Can't say I disagree.
North Carolina ranks as one of the more difficult State Medical Boards. The North Carolina Board Members can be quite arbitrary in their decisions . . . As with many Southern Medical Boards, the decision process over whether to issue a license or not many times can be based on the personality of the individual board members and not on the facts of the Physician's credentials.
Let's review the facts in my case: Doctor A screws up. Barely gets slapped on hand by the NC Medical Board. Ultimately, Doctor A becomes Chief of Staff at Randolph Hospital.
Doctor B (told less than 48 hours previously to "shut up or else"), answering the pleas of the nursing staff, rescues Doctor A (who screwed up). By all accounts Doctor B saves the patient's life. Doctor B reports incident to hospital peer review. Two weeks later, Doctor B is fired by Randolph Hospital. The NC Medical Board does not move a muscle to help her.
I'm not even sure that's "arbitrary".
The Nobodies Behind Kevin's Veil
Kevin M.D. has taken to selectively deleting my comments at his blog again . . . especially when they are overly critical of the AMA. It's happened twice in a week. I'm annoyed - mostly because I sign my name when others don't.
On this thread, cited on my recent "Nobodies" post, an anonymous Pediatrician said (I've corrected typos):
I am a board-certified pediatrician, who cut my clinical teeth reading widely respected peds textbooks co-edited by DeAngelis during residency. I always looked up to her academic prowess, and today find I am dismayed, disillusioned, and yes, disgusted at the behavior of my fellow pediatric colleague. Especially in the name of professional ethics and integrity.
Most pediatricians have no use for the AMA. We have the AAP and don't need it. After my first year in practice, I discontinued my membership. I was surprised when DeAngelis made the career move to edit JAMA (although the reported $500,000 salary may have a little to do with it!) I am even more surprised to see her display such an elitist attitude in such a public forum as the WSJ. I never thought someone I looked up to as a true academic professional could be so painfully ignorant.
Dr. DeAngelis needs to do two things.
First, she needs to make a very public apology to Dr. Leo, and to her professional colleagues everywhere for her condescending and unprofessional remarks. Any one of us could have been the 'nobody' of Dr. Leo, in correctly questioning the integrity of the study in question.
Second, then she absolutely needs to resign her ivory tower position at JAMA and regain some apparently much-needed humility.
Finally: Thank you, Dr. Leo, for being a 'somebody'. Your students should be very proud to have you as a teacher and mentor.
I posted the following response. It was not posted.:
Anon 1:37, I am a Board-certified Pediatrician too.
And like you, I am not a member of the AMA - because every single position they have taken over the years has managed to screw me.
But I disagree that we "don't need" the AMA. We have desperately needed them to be our voice.
And they simply HAVE NOT BEEN THERE!!!
I am not going to pay them hundreds of dollares in dues for the privilege of ignoring me.
THE AMA DOES NOT CARE about those of us getting hammered on the front lines and in the trenches. I am one of those "nobodies" who was brutalized in public service - by people who committed CRIMES. Where was/is the AMA?
And in terms of the big bad medical blogs lifting any veils, last week, I learned that I am always going to have to save any comments I make here - because when you talk back forcefully to someone in the medical establishment (in this case, regarding the upcoming dog and pony shows that are Obama's healthcare forums), Kevin will delete you.
It was not the first time. And I resent the crap out of that because I'm not posting anonymously.
I am signing my name.
Related, at Kevin's.
On this thread, cited on my recent "Nobodies" post, an anonymous Pediatrician said (I've corrected typos):
I am a board-certified pediatrician, who cut my clinical teeth reading widely respected peds textbooks co-edited by DeAngelis during residency. I always looked up to her academic prowess, and today find I am dismayed, disillusioned, and yes, disgusted at the behavior of my fellow pediatric colleague. Especially in the name of professional ethics and integrity.
Most pediatricians have no use for the AMA. We have the AAP and don't need it. After my first year in practice, I discontinued my membership. I was surprised when DeAngelis made the career move to edit JAMA (although the reported $500,000 salary may have a little to do with it!) I am even more surprised to see her display such an elitist attitude in such a public forum as the WSJ. I never thought someone I looked up to as a true academic professional could be so painfully ignorant.
Dr. DeAngelis needs to do two things.
First, she needs to make a very public apology to Dr. Leo, and to her professional colleagues everywhere for her condescending and unprofessional remarks. Any one of us could have been the 'nobody' of Dr. Leo, in correctly questioning the integrity of the study in question.
Second, then she absolutely needs to resign her ivory tower position at JAMA and regain some apparently much-needed humility.
Finally: Thank you, Dr. Leo, for being a 'somebody'. Your students should be very proud to have you as a teacher and mentor.
I posted the following response. It was not posted.:
Anon 1:37, I am a Board-certified Pediatrician too.
And like you, I am not a member of the AMA - because every single position they have taken over the years has managed to screw me.
But I disagree that we "don't need" the AMA. We have desperately needed them to be our voice.
And they simply HAVE NOT BEEN THERE!!!
I am not going to pay them hundreds of dollares in dues for the privilege of ignoring me.
THE AMA DOES NOT CARE about those of us getting hammered on the front lines and in the trenches. I am one of those "nobodies" who was brutalized in public service - by people who committed CRIMES. Where was/is the AMA?
And in terms of the big bad medical blogs lifting any veils, last week, I learned that I am always going to have to save any comments I make here - because when you talk back forcefully to someone in the medical establishment (in this case, regarding the upcoming dog and pony shows that are Obama's healthcare forums), Kevin will delete you.
It was not the first time. And I resent the crap out of that because I'm not posting anonymously.
I am signing my name.
Related, at Kevin's.
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