I Will Remember You

Halloween is always a bittersweet night.

For Bill. Miss you.

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

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

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

But I dared hope for change.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Our local legal system is notoriously adept at screwing pooches.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Insert cough that sounds like bullsh*t!!!

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

I believe they call it PERJURY;)

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

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

It's ridiculous and absolutely false.

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

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

Joe Wilson was absolutely right.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Ms. Fisher-Brinkley, Mr. Mansfield,

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

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

It's October.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Thank you for your attention to this matter,

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

It's been eleven years.

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

http://www.drjshousecalls.com/

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

That's just not so.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

And there you have my beef with Randolph Hospital.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

IDIOT! MORON!

Whatcha wanna bet this nimrod still has a job?

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

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

I loved this:

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

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

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

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

No biggie.

The Sleazely Hearings

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

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

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

A Quickening

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

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

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

There can be only one . . .

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Back to "goodwill" . . .

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Yeah. Sure.

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

And I am sorry. That is just total BS!

I ultimately moved my mortgage from First National.

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

I had to smile.

What goes around, Mikey. What goes around.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Brooke cannot control Linda.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Friends,

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Brooke is a lawyer. She should get that.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

They're lining up in droves, baby.

I wonder what young lawyers are worth?

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

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

Hope and change, baby. Hope and change.

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

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

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

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

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

Clarification of what exactly? Correction of what?

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

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

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

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

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

Two words, once again: Google search.

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

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

WHAT GOES AROUND, BROOKE.

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

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

Please help us by:

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Sincerely,

Steve and Brooke Schmidly

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

A Lovely Gesture: The Gratitude Campaign

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

My response:

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

DHHS needs to protect its own.

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

But these things have not been fixed.

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

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

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

The fruits of my labor belong to someone else.

I am “a dime a dozen”.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Makes perfect sense to me.

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

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

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

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

“Suuure”.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

That would be change I could believe in.

This Little Piggie

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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