Edwardian Sexcapades - Right Under The Royal Kiss

Johnny Reid made the DRUDGE REPORT last night . . . he's right under the royal kiss.

I agree with commenters over at the News & Observer.  Edwards and his mistress/videographer/baby-mama brought this lawsuit.  Depositions are public record.  What makes him so special? 

Tell you what, indict the loser already, use the tape as evidence, and see how fast he cops a plea.

Here's another thought:  If you're a candidate for the Presidency and you want to protect your privacy, don't make a sex tape for your minions to lug around for you - or find.

God Save The Queen

One of the great regrets of my life so far is that I did not get to see the inside of Westminster Abbey when Mama and I did our grand tour of Great Britain in 2005.  As our focus was on Ireland, we only had one day in London and could not fit a visit in. 

Of course, this gives me a reason to go back.  

There was much discussion of the Royal wedding at work today amongst the girls - with everyone agreeing they would not want to be Kate Middleton, except for the day.  Being fond of hats, I was particularly enamoured of the truly MAD hats and the fascisnators - especially Princess Beatrice's very unique (being kind) headpiece, apparently inspired by Lovecraft's Cthulhu.

As we reviewed the footage on CNN and MSN and You Tube (whilst getting our work done, of course), apart from the first breathtaking glimpse of the simply stunning dress, the following moment was my favorite:



THIS is England.  Brought a tear to me eye it did.  God save the Queen and the Monarchy.  Perhaps this couple will help.

On Fairy Tales

In stark contrast to the marriage of Charles and Diana, and although I had originally planned to do so, the Queen-of-the-Yas did not get up at an ungodly hour to watch Kate Middleton become a Princess.

I don't believe in fairy tales anymore.  It's sad.  But to be expected.  We girls grow up.  Besides, there's always CNN and People Magazine if you need a fix of fantasy.

Kate's dress and veil were simply lovely - all very grown up and modern in comparison to those of another Princess in whose shadow she walks.  I don't think she'll walk there for long.  Well done.

FNB/Community One Update: Banking Mayberry Style

Drum roll please.  Once again, the Greensboro N&R has scooped the Courier Tribune (so much for Diane Winemuller's emphasis on the "hyper-local"):  In what appears to be a Mayberry-style shot-gun marriage arranged by Paw (the Feds) to keep an eye on (and prop up) two bad sisters, Community One Bank has merged with Granite Bank (of Granite Falls, N.C.) - bringing in outside management - with the Carlyle Group and Oak Hill Capital pouring 155 million dollars into the joint venture.

If you read carefully, you'll note that Bank of Granite stock is worth MORE than Community One/FNB.  But between the two floundering banks, the stock prices still add up to less than one dollar per share.

Late Afternoon Update:  It gets even better.

Thurdsay Morning Update:  The N&R has more on the Ponzi scheme.  It does puzzle me how a 40 million dollar Ponzi scheme merits only $400,000 in restitution to victims.  I knew, based on my own experience, that Randolph Hospital Board member/former FNB CEO, Mike Miller, was deaf, dumb and criminally blind to everything but his own greed.  But this blows even my mind.

And if Miller was so "asleep at the switch" (the U.S. Attorney's description - and a common affliction amongst Asheboro's "right people"), why was it so easy for him to hop right on over to become President of Pfieffer University? 

Don't our young people deserve better than that?

Mr. Mayor "Re-Vitalize" Asheboro All You Like. But Perhaps God Might Be More Likely To Hear Your Prayers If You Didn't Lie To The Public Or Re-write History.

Regular readers of Housecalls will remember that I was not exactly thrilled when Asheboro City leaders appeared as "honored guests" during an eleven o'clock service at Asheboro's First Baptist Church back in February - kicking off a campaign (for lack of a better word) of prayer, coinciding with the season of Lent, to ask God to heal our city.

While I don't doubt, for one second, the sincerity of FBC's real church-people - or the Power of God - the hypocrisy exuded by those standing on FBC's stage ranked right up there with the Courier Tribune's Annette Jordan sanctimoniously lecturing anyone on the importance of the public's access to public records.

As I've said before, when it comes to forgiveness and atonement, I don't believe in cheap grace.  Some of these people have MUCH to answer for.

The Randolph County Tea Party, fueled by public angst over Asheboro being named one of the nation's top ten dying towns by Forbes Magazine back in 2008, has been hosting a series of public forums and inviting public officials in Asheboro/Randolph County to basically explain themselves/their past actions/their future plans.  It's an interesting exercise in "hyper-local" politics given that, until recently, public officials here didn't really answer to anybody (well, except our mill town's "right people").

The best example I can give of that is my first appearance before the Asheboro City Council (which at the time included current N.C. Commerce Secretary, "Evil" Keith Crisco) back in the spring of 2004 - when I basically begged the Council to do something - anything - that might help me hold "non-profit" Randolph Hospital's feet to the fire for the nasty/ultimately illegal things their senior executives had done under the guise of "charity". 

The story I told them was an ugly one. 

At the time, in the days before I found my voice on the blogs, it was a VERY big deal for me and my family to break our silence and appear before the Council - as we had basically lived in terror of more (essentially state-sanctioned) retaliation for years. 

While Keith Crisco squirmed and snarled during my presentation (it was expected), and J.D. Walker put down her pen (disappointing, but ditto), future Mayor David Smith made a point of putting on his best "I feel your pain" face after the meeting was done - seeking me out to thank me for coming forward. He implied that it was appreciated, and that the Council would look into it.

(I've since been told this is the Mayor's modus operandi in defusing potentially embarrassing situations . . . to appear sympathetic, then duck back behind the wagons circled tightly around "the right people".)

That was six years ago - before I answered John Robinson's call to citizen journalism - and I've not seen this Council (which has since attempted some pretty unscrupulous things - and which is now asking for the community prayers and God's help to dig them out of their hole) do ANYTHING to reign the boys-running-Randolph in.

Meanwhile, under the stalwart Rotarian leadership of David Renfro, the Courier Tribune has consistently REFUSED to tell the local mostly-God-fearing populace the brutally-ugly-story that I told the City Council.  The see/hear/speak-no-evil-about-their-biggest-advertiser-act continues even now, under Diane Winemuller's new-&-improved "business model" that puts such strong emphasis on focusing on the "hyper-local".

The hospital is an economic powerhouse (God help us) and you simply cannot stand in its way - no matter what Bob Morrison and Steve Eblin do.

So let's just say, I was real interested in what Mayor Smith might say at this Tea Party meeting about the state of healthcare in Asheboro.  

Fortunately, I did not have to rely solely on the Courier as my ex was there (apparently, I must be rubbing off on him, because he posed some fairly pointed questions about the escalation of crime in his neighborhood - questions that did not get answered).  And/so I got a detailed report. 

The Courier's Mary Anderson was also at the meeting, and this time (in stark contrast to her award-winning colleague whose fingers were apparently paralyzed seven years ago) Anderson was actually able to put pen to paper/fingers to keyboard and report on what was said - albeit in the Courier's spartan, "we can't embarrass the right people too much" style.

This is an excerpt from Anderson's story in the Courier (for the record, and just so we know who is who, Lynn Lancaster is the "Director of Research and Education" for the Tea Party.  I have no idea what this person does in real life.):

Smith said Asheboro’s location in central North Carolina was attractive to people because of the climate, lower cost of living and the midway location, not only to the mountains and coast, but between New York and Florida. People who have the means to move for retirement will want amenities and services, which will create jobs. An older population also has more medical needs and Asheboro has the facilities.

“The medical community is our next growth industry,” Smith said.

Lancaster said those plans would hinge on “Obamacare.”

“You can’t take half a billion dollars out of Medicare and expect things to be the same,” Lancaster said.

Now, as I indicated, Mary Anderson left some things out of her report - most specifically, our Mayor re-writing history to paint Randolph Hospital and its wholly-owned controlled affiliate, Randolph Medical Associates (RMA), as "saviors" in today's ugly games of medical competition and oneupmanship. 

The Mayor would have us believe that it's bad that the practice Randolph Hospital spawned is not the only game in town anymore (God is merciful).  Other big practices - owned by bigger hospitals and conglomerates or even larger groups of doctors - are muscling in - bringing in and scooping up solo doctors and smaller practices who must affiliate with someone in order to survive.  Those doctors don't necessarily direct their referrals to the local hospital.

What specifically jerked this home-girl-turned-battered-public-servant-turned-angry-crusading-hyper-local-blogger's chain was Mayor Smith telling those assembled that RMA was "created" to compete with those groups.

And that is not just a lie, it's a damned lie.  It's oily David Smith, in his best patented go-along-to-get-along fashion, trying to re-write history in order to cover his oilier neighbor, Steve Eblin's, butt.

RMA, you see, was here first - before any of the other outside mega-groups found firm footing.  And I can speak with some authority on this subject because I was the FIRST PHYSICIAN recruited to Asheboro under Eblin's grand plan to expand RMA and populate Asheboro with doctors "owned" by the hospital-owned group.  I still have copies of the Courier Tribune's ad campaign in my scrapbook/legal files that say so (perhaps that's why Mary Anderson knew better than to publish the Mayor's gross mis-statement of the facts).

The mega-groups came later.  And there is a reason for that.

The creation and expansion of RMA in the mid-90's was NOT about altruism (for all that this facade is what sucked me in).  It was an effort to have local doctors "naturally" funnel and refer patients to Randolph Hospital, and keep "the business" local.

Moreover, if the hospital employed (i.e. "owned") physicians/their practices, they could ensure "call coverage" for the hospital (as a condition of employment) . . . even as private MD's got disgusted with/burned-out-on the hospital's cheap bully tactics and pulled out. 

It's a fact that many hospitals today are being forced to spend huge amounts of money on "hospitalist" services (call coverage that once cost them next-to-nothing) because they over-played their bully cards with regards to hospital privileges, and milked/grossly-devalued the "good will" of local physicians for far too long. 

Once-brutally-battered, taken-for-granted, burned-out private docs have learned that they can tell hospitals where to go and how to get there . . . many have discovered that when they do, they can take back some resemblance of a personal life.  Some of them can actually make more money in an office-only practice - when things going on at the hospital can no longer disrupt their patient schedules or their day.

Now on paper, expanding RMA was a good (and at the time, pseudo cutting-edge) idea.  But the paper did not take into account several crucial factors.

The first hurdle was Randolph's HORRIBLE reputation amongst the locals.  Back in the day, many parents did not want to have their kids admitted to - or operated on - at Randolph (I could empathize more than most of my collegues), and wanted them transferred to Cone (Randolph Hospital's preference) or Brenner's (my personal preference as it was my alma mater, and the PALS line made communication a snap).  It didn't matter how much parents liked or trusted me (or the other Pediatricians).  They didn't trust Randolph or it's ED. 

If the theory was that "the customer" was always right, Randolph Hospital was screwed.

The nice thing about practicing in Asheboro, Pediatrically-speaking, was that the town was ideally geographically situated to use any one of several excellent tertiary-care centers . . . for in addition to Cone and Brenner's, we could also fall back on Chapel Hill and Duke - all within an hour's driving distance.  Of course Eblin saw this as giving in to Randolph's "competitors" . . . as if Randolph's Pediatric services could really "compete" with those of three of the nation's top children's hospitals. 

(He nearly had a stroke one weekend when I wore a Brenner's T-Shirt on hospital rounds.)

RMA's development happened to coincide with a general push in Pediatrics to manage more kids with chronic problems as outpatients as opposed to inpatients.  Home nebulizers meant you didn't have to admit every child who came in wheezing. Every pneumonia or dehydration case did not need to be admitted.  Parents - and their doctors - had choices.

It did not bode well for the "natural" funneling of Pediatric business to the hospital.

The second, even more problematic hurdle was RMA management.  While Steve Eblin may have presented himself to the hospital's Board of Directors as Randolph's "visionary" VP of corporate planning and development (pause to insert sneer/spit), he had ZERO clue how to run a practice on a day-to-day basis, or to treat physicians/nurses (particularly women - particularly those who did not fawn at his every utterance) and the people he hired didn't have a clue either.  His first practice director made a nearly-criminal mess of our Medicaid billing . . . after she was let go, we went without a director for months with Eblin going through the motions as manager . . . then, we were gifted with the micro-managing, favorites-playing Mike Bridges - who pretty much admitted to me (just before I was fired) that the books were being cooked to show a "profit" . . . as the hospital wanted to switch to a physician incentive program as opposed to straight salaries.

(Eblin's first proposal for the incentive program - presented only after he "fired" all of his doctors - a smooth legal move that back-fired in a big way, included a provision that amounted to awarding incentive points to doctors for going to church and using their church membership to draw in business.  It was offensive on so many levels, and I told the Oily One & his minion Bridges that my soul was not for sale - one of several character traits that put me on their *hit list and kept me there.)

And/so what was supposed to be a "smooth-sailing" environment for the doctors - who could theorhetically focus on practicing medicine and gradually building the trust that builds the relationships that build a successful practice - became, over time, a pressure-cooked nightmare of management's schemes to make money.

We were indentured servants . . . lowly pawns on Randolph Hospital's chessboard of greed . . . instead of highly-educated, highly-valued professionals . . . "partners" in the endeavor, with hopes and dreams of our own.

Nope.  In Eblin's book, we were, "a dime a dozen."

Now I could proceed with a lot of re-hashing of the interpersonal dynamics that led to Eblin and Bridges to use a letter written by a local dentist/member of the Board of Health (a dentist and Board of Health that, in retrospect, I should have SUED THE HELL OUT OF FOR LIBEL) to issue the threats that basic medical ethics compelled me to defy.  But that's beyond the scope of this post.

The point is that Mayor Smith got it wrong.  He's re-writing history.  And what's more, he KNOWS better.

David Smith knows full well that if there is more medical competition in Asheboro now, and the outside mega-groups (like Cornerstone) are gaining the high ground, it's because Randolph Hospital/RMA has a long history of treating its doctors and nurses like CRAP.  I personally think it's FANTASTIC that local doctors no longer have just one or two choices . . . and that they can tell Bob Morrison and Steve Eblin to GO BLOW. 

I can also assure the reader, as a home-grown doctor forced to make her living on the road, that badly-burned physicians/nurses talk amongst themselves and offer advice to others . . . and that Randolph Hospital's reputation for treating medical professionals (of ALL specialities) horribly is known far and wide.

Indeed, if there were manuals for hospital executives on how NOT to treat their doctors, Bob and Steve would have several chapters.

In short, Randolph Hospital is reaping what it has sown.  You will not see me cry any tears.  And good luck, Mr. Mayor, with growing that "industry" if things stay the way they are.

But hey, keep telling the kept-in-the-dark plebes a pile of lies, so lying, cheating Bob Morrison can keep pulling down over $700,000/year in salary and benefits.

One more thing.  At the Tea Party meeting, there was also some discussion about the problems recruiting doctors to Asheboro - and that "re-vitalization" of the downtown area was crucial to this effort.  The statement was made that, at one point (before alcohol), some realtors did not want to show doctors the downtown area because they were ashamed of how it looked.

(At the risk of appearing snide - not a big concern at this point - I'll note that Community One has a very nice facade on the corner of Sunset & Fayetteville . . . the uninformed/visiting doctor would never know that Mike Miller & company lost 250 million dollars in three years.  But hey, the building is real pretty.)

The Mayor's premise is almost funny.  Because as I remember it, back in the mid-90's, Asheboro's status as an alcohol-free, family-oriented, God-fearing small town with good schools, strong churches, a world-renowned zoo, and a low crime rate was a HUGE drawing card for new physicians.  Hell, back then we even had a Harris Teeter.  I know that because I worked with many of the new MD's (most are long gone), and making that kind of commitment was first and foremost about what was best for their family.  Young doctors weren't looking at how many bars were downtown.  They wanted a place where they could practice good medicine - with people they respected and trusted - and raise their kids in safety and peace. 

They were looking for Mayberry.

It's amazing what a difference nearly twenty years of BAD ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL POLICY . . . predicated on the greed of "the right people" . . . in an environment where no one talks back and the newspaper is incapable of asking a coherent question . . . can make.

Expounding on that is, once again, beyond the scope of this post.  But it never ceases to amaze me at how many people in the land-of-small-town-values have benefited/profited from breaking the rules/law, while I was professionally (and legally) crucified for doing my duty by a very newborn sick baby girl . . . and telling the inconvenient truth . . .

. . . a truth to which Mayor David Smith has turned a blind eye and deaf ear.

In the meantime, as individuals basked in short-term profit - with the collateral damage dumped on the educational and medical systems, Asheboro has reaped what its leaders have sown, recently making a "top-ten" list that no town wants to be on. 

Moreover, Asheboro also has a Pediatrician-done-wrong online nearly every day telling the newbies about what was done to her in her own hometown.

Both of these things play hell with physician recruitment - much more so than a couple of bars downtown - or refurbishing Sunset Theatre.

Before we close, in terms of physician recruitment, I will also add that at one time, RMA qualified for state and Federal physician recruitment assistance as embodied by the NHSC's physician loan-repayment program.

It doesn't any more. The reason for that lies solely in the way RMA treated me.  The agreement with the Feds (backed by hundreds of thousands of taxpayer dollars) was not only about recruitment, but about physician RETENTION.  And I can talk all day about how what I endured in public service in Asheboro demonstrates that Obamacare is doomed to failure - no matter how much money you throw at it - or suck out. 

I'll note the Mayor didn't own up to RMA's biggest faus pax either when speaking to the Tea Party about physician recruitment.

In the aftermath of the recent prayer campaign to "seek God for the city", a passage from Micah (6:12-13) comes to mind:  "…the inhabitants thereof have spoken lies, and their tongue is deceitful in their mouth. Therefore also will I make thee sick in smiting thee, in making thee desolate because of thy sins."

My point is this:  God has no use for liars.  And I'm thinking that Mayor Smith needs to do some more soul-searching - and praying - about what he's telling the public regarding Asheboro's recent history - particularly as it pertains to healthcare and those who provide it.

And if he really wants to fix this city, he needs to think about where he stands and who he's standing with.

Happy Easter

Journalistic PMS (Peggy Morrison Syndrome)

Related to this Housecalls post and this one, in his latest editorial in the Courier, Ray Criscoe does his best John Robinson impersonation, and offered us his (sorry) excuses for the emphasis he chose not to place in the immediate aftermath of tornadoes that decimated entire communities in the Eastern part of our state last Saturday.

Ray explains that it's all about the "hyper-local".  That's what sells newspapers (as if he would know).

It reminds me of Peggy Morrison's whine after local sympathy for North Carolina's far-Eastern victims of Hurricane Floyd threatened local United Way coffers.  This is the woman whose husband made over 700,000 in 2008 as the CEO of "non-profit" Randolph Hospital.

Charity has served them well.

Of course, if the newspapers hadn't been paying attention to something besides the "hyper-local" back then, the money might not have been diverted in the first place. 

So Ray might actually be on to something.

Therefore I proclaim my discovery of a new syndrome in thoughtlessness and tunnel-visioned selfishness in journalism, and dub it PMS (Peggy Morrison Syndrome).  Please pass the chili.

I'll take a pass on the Nobel, thank you very much.  Recent recipients have left me cold.

P.S.  I picked my side long ago, Ray.  You missed that hyper-local story.

"Lest Anyone Doubt The Story Of Mary Johnson . . ."

Catching up, fellow doctor-blogger, Joe Guarino, no doubt furrowed some brows amongst the local "Coneheads" when he posted this ditty last Friday on a physician survey out of Texas.

Seventeen percent of physicians report cases in which physicians lost employment, contracts, or hospital privileges because they raised issues about hospital regulatory compliance or patient care quality.

I'm not very surprised by the findings - or the numbers.  In fact, based on my own experience - and all of the ugly I have seen in my years on-the-road, I would expect those numbers to be higher in North Carolina - where the big/non-profit hospitals rule broad swipes of the economic landscape. 

It's rare for medical badness to make headlines - and usually involves something really awful - like little girls transplanted the wrong hearts or babies used as bait for child abusers.  In these instances the outraged public will often wail, "How could this have happened?"

What is very disturbing (if not understandable because the legal and fiscal decks are stacked so highly against them) is that so few physicians fight back when this kind of thing happens.

That, and the fact that our so-called uber-powerful physician advocacy and patient safety organizations - like the N.C. Medical Board, and the Medical Society and JCAHO and the AMA have turned deaf ears and blind eyes to the problem.

Indeed, looking back on my stroll down the yellow-brick-road-from-Hell, the only reason I did not turn my back and leave Randolph Hospital behind in the dust where it belongs is because ASHEBORO IS MY HOME, and when it comes to the carpet-bagging/lying/thieving/double-dealing corpraturds runnig Randolph (Bob Morrison and Steve Eblin), I was here first. 

In terms of physicians suffering retaliation for blowing the whistle, the question begs, thirteen years after every dream I ever had was turned to crap in order to service their control-freak greed, and as North Carolina Republicans hastily ram healthcare/tort reforms through the legislature, WHAT IS THIS STATE GOING TO DO ABOUT IT? 

When are the Harold Brubakers of this world going to STOP regurtitating sound-bites and start protecting patients - and the doctors brave enough to risk it all to advocate for them?

Chili Champs vs. Deadly Tornados: A Letter To The Editor Of The Courier Tribune

I've been spring cleaning this week - actually making up for a couple of missed springs - and blogging has been on the back-burner.  It actually hurts to type this as my fingers are raw from scrubbing floors and washing walls.

A few days ago, a friend of mine forwarded me a Letter-To-The-Editor of the Courier Tribune - it was on behalf of a friend of his who had (good) reason (as you will shortly see) to believe it would not be printed.  The letter mirrored the sentiments I expressed last Sunday about what passed for local news reporting in the wake of a swarm of unusually-powerful-for-these-parts tornadoes that turned large portions of the Eastern part of our state into a hellish version of Oz.

At least this time (as opposed to when Hurricane Floyd drowned the coastal inlands), we won't have Peggy Morrison (wife of my nemesis, Bob) berating the locals for diverting their charitable giving away from local United Way coffers.

I told my friend to give the Courier a chance and if the letter was not up by Easter Sunday, I'd print it here.

Little birds tell me that it was in the paper yesterday.  Given the Courier's recent shenanigans propping up its latest "business model" (which is actually just a more facist version of David Renfro's longtime modus operandi of being little more than a local fan magazine for its advertisers) many people in my "quarter" are dumbfounded by the Courier's journalistically bipolar behavior.  And the letter is apparently the talk of the town. 

Alas, unless you buy a subscription, you cannot read the letter online, so I've decided to remedy that situation by publishing it here:

Dear Mr Criscoe,

I just received the Monday, April 18th 2011 edition of the COURIER TRIBUNE and I must express my feelings and disappointment at this newspaper. After the worst natural weather disaster to hit our state since 1984 (when a similar series of terrible tornadoes devastated eastern North Carolina) your newspaper carried only one small one-column x 7 inch long article about only one of the storms to hit NC. Your headline on this date's edition read "Chili champ crowned"! That is almost unbelievable!

How can the COURIER TRIBUNE call itself a newspaper when it ignored what may well become the biggest news story about North Carolina this year? This allows me to give my editorial about the decision of the COURIER TRIBUNE'S management to discontinue the Monday edition: If you can't do better than what you DIDN'T do in today's paper, then you should close-up shop and return to Las Vegas.

Of course this incident is only the tip of the iceberg. Continually, the COURIER TRIBUNE devotes much of its space to run non-news stories and photos about the "rich and famous" of Asheboro patting each other on their backs for, well, patting each other on their backs when real local news stories about hard-working local citizens and volunteers actually doing the community work, in the trenches, getting their hands dirty, often go under or un-reported. All of which leads one to ask what other important local news stories may go un-reported by the COURIER TRIBUNE?

I know an argument will be made that the COURIER TRIBUNE's web site contains more information than what's printed in the paper. Well, not everyone who lives in Asheboro or Randolph County has Internet access and even those of us who do would rather sit down at the breakfast table, drink our cup of coffee or tea, munch on an egg, bacon and cheese biscuit and digest the newspaper with our breakfast from front to rear in a quiet, relaxed atmosphere. Not everyone enjoys sitting in front of a computer screen "surfing the web".

Your decision not to run a Monday edition speaks not as much about the state of the economy or the expansion of the Internet as it indicates the COURIER TRIBUNE is, in my opinion, a poorly run newspaper and today's issue is the best example I could ever site to support this argument.

Shame on the COURIER TRIBUNE and it's editorial staff!

Ken Powell

There's a whole lotta truth in this letter, and for once, I'm glad that someone else is standing up to say it.  As the protagonist in one of those bothersome-for-the-right-people stories that the Courier Tribune has flat out IGNORED, I'm thinking that, just like Community One, it's on its way out unless it changes its ways.

And no one will shed a tear over their breakfast when it happens.

The Force Was Strong With Her

I've never had to kill a post before, but yesterday's musings on a young lady at a Disney park who willingly surrendered to the Dark Side of the Force seemed to be eating my blog from within - something about the embedded code to the video.

It's too bad. I'm still chuckling over the video.

On Sunday Morning's TV News In Piedmont Triad, North Carolina

One of the continuing themes on this blog is how USELESS some of our local news outlets are in terms of telling us what is really going on in this state.  There was no better evidence of it that what passed for TV "news" this morning in the Piedmont Triad.

This morning, there was next-to-nothing about the multiple paths of death & destruction left behind in the wake of an outbreak of tornadoes in Eastern North Carolina, before the talking heads went on to pontificate on sleeping air traffic controllers.  It was as if nothing existed east of Raleigh.  

I wish I could pick up WNCT (Greenville) of WITN (Little Washington) here.  Even WRAL with its primary focus on Raleigh, has acknowledged that the folks down East got the worst of it - particularly in Bertie County.

Yes, tornadoes skirted around our capital city yesterday (more than one person in my circle has remarked that it's a shame the legislative building was left unscathed), and Sanford took a very nasty swipe (the Governor will be there later today to survey the damage).

But there are tiny towns in Eastern North Carolina that are quite literally not there anymore.  People impaled in trees.  Bodies stacked in morgues.

WHERE are the journalists charged with telling us what is going on - so we can get help to those who need it most?  Why is the focus here only about what lazy reporters can access by Interstate?

Afternoon Update:  From WITN (Washington, N.C.) TV, Amateur video of one of the tornadoes that touched down in Greene County:

Things Are VERY BAD Down East

With the exception of 2 short weekends off, I've been down East doing the 24/7 thing for the last seven weeks.  So I was quite ready and anxious to get home this weekend . . . especially given that really-bad-storms were expected today, and it's alway unnerving to be away from home when badness is going down.  I prefer to batten down my own hatches.

But it's also unnerving to be away from my home-away-from home when badness is going down.  The people I work with are like family.  As the afternoon progressed, it became clear that they were in very real danger. 

My calls have finally gotten through, and I've just gotten word that things are very, Very, VERY bad down East.

Deep Thought For The Day

A lovely sentiment . . . sent to me this week by one of the Yas:

Women are Angels.

When someone breaks our wings, we simply continue to fly . . .

. . . on a broomstick.

We are flexible like that.

Just Another Lovely Day In Wobegon/Asheboro

Perusing what I could in front of the Courier Tribune's paywall Wednesday morning (I'd insert links, but it's pointless), I'm not sure what is worse . . .

Obliviously donating many thousands of hours of your life to provide volunteer services to a small-town "non-profit" hospital that very quietly pays its CEO over $700,000 per year for his strong record of monopolizing the medical landscape and legally terrorizing good physicians who report bad things on his watch (while the County Commissioners huff and puff over cutting supplemental teachers' pay) . . .

OR a local legal system stocked to the rafters with grandstanding Neanderthal DA's who sway from one extreme to the other . . . not-to-mention, burned-out/barely-there judges who STILL have not yet figured out how to treat/protect allegedly-abused children from additional psychological trauma - and strike a reasonable medium/balance as they attempt to properly vet these kids in a Court proceeding . . .

Or (drum roll please) a dying, over-compensating-albeit-too-little-too-late POS newspaper whose new "business model" would poison all the wells in the-process-of-what-passes-for-due-process in Asheboro, AND allow its reporters to sensationalize the misery and abject terror of the "beautiful little 5-year-old" in the aforementioned child abuse trial  (ala, "I want my Mommy, I don't want to talk, the little girl sobbed") . . . all but identifying her via her familial relationship to her named attacker - who was also a minor at the time the assault alledgedly occured.

At least the children are beautiful.  But can anyone else hear squealing pigs and banjos in the distance?

Saturday AM Update:  A friend sent me the CT's story on the verdict in the child abuse case - in which the young man (tried as an adult in Randolph County because N.C. is one of only eight states in our union that allows those over 16 to be charged in that fashion . . . STILL HEARING THE BANJOS) was convicted.

Based on prior experience with Mr. Dozier and his tactics, and from what I read in our glorious newspaper about the family dynamics for the child (all I can say about that is GOOD LORD WHAT A MESS!!!), it's a case that's RIPE for reversal on appeal . . . .

. . . the adults involved being all the evidence one needs for reasonable doubt.

The N.C. Medical Board NEVER Ceases To Amaze Me

The North Carolina Medical Board strikes again.

(Dr. Raymond) Cook, a plastic surgeon, was convicted last month of involuntary manslaughter, felony death by motor vehicle and driving while impaired for his part in a collision on Sept. 11, 2009, that killed Elena Bright Shapiro in North Raleigh. He was sentenced to at least three years in prison.

Cook cut a deal with the Medical Board (it's called a consent order) in which his license was revoked . . . RETROACTIVELY (to the day he voluntarily surrendered his license - four days after he KILLED Elena Shapiro).  And (get this), he can REAPPLY for licensure this September . . . before he's even completed his jail sentence.

I'm thinking the prison system needs a doctor.

I'm also shaking my head at the almighty Board's fundamental cluelessness.  The air must be pretty thin in the ivory tower.  A young girl died because this drunken, lecherous slob-with-a-medical-degree could not call a cab.  Her family got no real justice from the justice system.  We are a profession that should demand a higher standard (of course after thirteen years of two-faced double-talk from this Board on ethics and responsibility, I know that's not true).

So I'm sorry, Mr. Mansfield.  A short stint in rehab and "probation" with the stiffs of the N.C. Physicians Health Program just doesn't cut it.  Allow one of your own to tell you that.

Wait.  I forgot.  You're a lawyer.

Pink Socks For Ava

One of the things I like most about working down East (as opposed to the Piedmont) is the genuine sense of camaraderie amongst medical personnel - even between institutions.  I know for a fact that what was done to me in Asheboro/and at Randolph Hospital would NEVER have happened here.

Ava Kendall, the 6 year-old bridesmaid who was killed in an automobile crash on the way to a wedding in Greenville last Saturday, was the only daughter of Dr. James (an OB) and Gretchen Kendall (a nurse) from Tarboro.  And today, the nurses-working-at-not-even-the-same-hospital orchestrated that we all wear pink in memory and honor of Little Miss Ava. 

I wore pink tie-dyed socks.

DR. JOHNSON WANTS TO KNOW: REGULATORILY SPEAKING, WHAT IN THE DEEP-BLUE HELL MAKES WHAT HAPPENED AT BRENNER CHILDREN'S HOSPITAL IN 2011 ANY DIFFERENT THAN WHAT HAPPENED AT RANDOLPH HOSPITAL IN 1998?

The following was my horosope for today:

Just when you thought you were finished righteously instructing the world about exactly how it should be run, you've discovered that it's not over yet. They're not quite convinced. Sure, you're up for a couple of days of well-earned rest, but you'll rally if it means getting just one more person to wear your colors. You can rest tomorrow. Maybe. For now, do what you do best: Win them over to your side -- with pure, unbiased logic.

Moving on along, the plot thickens.

My Alma Mater, N.C. Baptist Hospital (which includes Brenner Children's Hospital), is in heapum big trouble with Medicare and Medicaid . . . after this incident on I previously blogged . . . in which a toddler admitted to the hospital for observation after a head injury - was repeatedly assaulted (by the man who allegedly put her in the hospital in the first place) while she was on hospital monitors and her Mother was reportedly sleeping in the same room.

There is video that places the assailant near the child at the time of the attack. As an alumna of the residency program, familiar with child abuse investigations, I think I know exactly what happened. 

I could comment/elaborate on this further, but I won't.  That might really stir the turds.

The profoundly stupid, scum-sucking-piece-of excrement who tried to kill the two-year-old has been charged with ELEVEN (count 'em) counts of attempted murder.

The child survived her ordeal and went home.  If she went home with her Mother, I'm flabber-gasted.

According to the notice, the hospital doesn't meet guidelines in three areas: governing body, patients' rights and nursing services.

And all of the loyalties of youth aside, in my humble opinion, this development is GOOD. 

I mean really.  It's good.  Something went horribly wrong that night.  The hospital reported it (pretty much because they couldn't get away with not reporting it), and is owning up, cleaning-up-the-act and making amends.  News agencies are investigating and reporting.  And the Feds are all over it. 

But NCBH is a big "customer" and I have little doubt that this will be resolved without a single payment being missed.

It's all for politically-correct show.

Which brings me right back to why I am in this blogopshere (I'm not inserting links today, it's all in the sidebar):

WHERE IN THE DEEP-BLUE-CLINTONIAN-HELL HAVE THE FEDS (I.E. MEDICAID AND MEDICARE) BEEN WHEN IT COMES TO THE CASE OF DR. MARY JOHNSON . . . A NATIONAL HEALTH-SERVICE PROVIDER WHO CAME HOME TO ASHEBORO TO SERVE THE COMMUNITY WHERE SHE GREW UP . . . A DOCTOR WHO WAS FIRED AFTER DEFYING THE THREATS OF RANDOLPH HOSPITAL EXECUTIVES IN ORDER TO SAVE A BABY'S LIFE (A BABY WHO ALSO NEARLY DIED DUE TO SOMEONE'S ABJECT STUPIDITY, BUT WHO ULTIMATELY SURVIVED TO GO HOME) . . . A BY-ALL-ACCOUNTS DEDICATED, EXCELLENT PEDIATRICIAN WHO SAW EVERY AGREEMENT SHE EVER ENTERED INTO BREACHED AND EVERY DREAM SHE EVER HAD DASHED FOR DOING HER JOB THE WAY IT WAS SUPPOSED TO BE DONE . . . A WHISTLE-BLOWING PHYSICIAN WHO WAS SLANDERED, PROFESSIONALLY BLACK-BALLED, LEGALLY BULLIED AND ULTIMATELY SLAPP-SUED FOR REPORTING WHAT HAPPENED TO STATE AND FEDERAL AGENCIES . . . A HOME-GROWN DOCTOR WHO WAS FORCED TO FIGHT/FINANCE HER BATTLE PRETTY MUCH ALL BY HER LONESOME . . . A PUBLIC SERVANT WHO, BECAUSE OF SUB-STANDARD LEGAL REPRESENTATION AND ZERO LEGAL ASSISTANCE FROM THE FEDS WAS ULTIMATELY SWINDLED BY BOLD-FACED PERJURY, CONTEMPT AND FRAUD ON THE PART OF SENIOR RANDOLPH HOSPITAL EXECUTIVES (OVERPAID, OVER-RATED CRETINS WHO REPEATEDLY LIED ABOUT WHAT THEY DID AND WHY - TO THE DOCTOR'S COLLEAGUES AND TO HER PARENTS/PATIENTS, TO THE HOSPITAL BOARD, TO THE COMMUNITY, AND TO THE COURT)?

WHERE HAVE THE "WATCHFUL EYES" OF THE LOCAL NEWS MEDIA ("SERVING" THE WOEFULLY KEPT-IN-THE-DARK CITIZENS OF ASHEBORO AND GREENSBORO) BEEN, BUT ETERNALLY CROSSED . . . JUST ABOVE THE NOSES OF THEIR EDITORS/PUBLISHERS BURIED DEEPLY IN THE BUTT-POCKETS OF MOSES CONE AND RANDOLPH HOSPITALS?

A CHILD NEARLY DIED IN BOTH SITUATIONS . . . ONE AT THE HANDS OF AN ASSAILANT HER MOTHER TRUSTED . . . AND ONE (PERHAPS EVEN MORE OMINOUSLY) AT THE HANDS OF A DOCTOR-WHO-FANCIED-HIMSELF-A-NEONATOLOGIST - SOMEONE HER PARENTS WERE LITERALLY TRICKED INTO TRUSTING BY FALSE ADVERTISING.

WHAT MAKES ONE SITUATION WORTHY OF THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT'S IMMEDIATE CONDEMNATION/ACTION . . . AND THE OTHER (WHICH INCLUDES CRIMES THAT DO NOT HAVE A STATUTE OF LIMITATIONS) CONSIGNED TO THEIR REGULATORY/PROSECUTORIAL TRASH-HEAP?

WHY IS BAPTIST HOSPITAL DANCING THE PERP DANCE NOW . . . BUT RANDOLPH HOSPITAL HAS BEEN ALLOWED TO SKATE FOR THIRTEEN YEARS?

Please tell me (Edward, JR, Roch, Sue, Ray, J.D., Chip, Annette, ANYBODY).  I'd REALLY like to know.

Give me some of your pure, unbiased LOGIC.

STOP The North Carolina Presses!!! Trial Lawyers Are Feeling Left Out!

Well, the Federal government did not shut down.  National Health Service Corps recruits are safe - for now.

Sometimes - especially recently - what passes for headlines from major news outlets makes me want to barf. 

It's bad enough that we have to read (more so that anyone cares) Charlie Sheen is being booed off his stages in the enlightened big cities . . . or that Snookie-the-jersey-Scank merits outrageous speaking fees at our finest universities .. . . but this past week, we got to read that "John Edwards is Suicidal".

Apart from all of the places I could go with that, I can actually empathize just-a-little-bit with North Carolina's favorite ex-trial-lawyer-turned-porn-star . . . since there were some very-dark-days when I felt that way . . .  after the "most accessible Senator from North Carolina ever" (come to think of it, he did give "accessibility" a new meaning) spent his days running for President rather than responding to the needs of his constituents (say, like this one - after I got hosed in one of the very public service programs that he and his equally-clueless wife drooled over).

But earlier this morning, the gag reflex was really kicking in.  Because now, "Trial Lawyers Are Feeling Excluded" as the GOP in Raleigh attempts to draft malpractice tort reform.  If you believe the N&O (and sometimes you can), since Republicans are nothing if not corporate shills, they're doing a lot of the drafting of this law behind closed doors . . . totally ignoring those citizens whose story-of-woe might give the public pause in terms of supporting this bill.

Knowing something of being excluded from the legislative process in order to serve (local) corporate interests, I dropped a comment on the story:

" . . . the lawyers who sue on behalf of injured people are complaining that lawmakers have cut them out of the process and are only listening to corporate interests behind closed doors".

On the one side, I say BOO HOO!!! Now these legal trolls (who, for the last CENTURY have done pretty much anything they wanted under the "watchful eyes" of now-convicted and soon-to-be-indicted Democratic FELONS) know how it feels to be a citizen - particularly a doctor - stomped and ignored under their winking and nodding boots - cut out of ALL the meetings - everywhere - even as medicine was being "reformed".

On the other side, from what I've seen of the bill so far, it's a decidedly BAD mish-mash of currently politically-correct sound-bites - lopped together to make yet another law that's going to be filled with undesirable unintended consequences for those at the highest disadvantage - the people already wronged/injured by medical negligence or corporate malfeasance - the people that the state/its laws are supposed to work hardest to protect.

We need tort reform - no doubt. But in this bill, as I understand it, ED doctors are protected from aggressive legal tactics simply because they work in one section of the hospital. What about OB's and Pediatricians and surgeons and anesthesiologists who attend emergencies in other areas - who show up and deal with the ugliest disasters simply because they're taking call?

The now "suicidal" John Edwards made a fortune suing OB's over "bad babies" - using ify science to sway the emotions of juries. Why do good/fair legal protections for doctors rely only what part of the hospital you work in?

How Constitutional is that?

(Not that the Constitutional rights of doctors ever mattered in this state.)

Where are the legal protections for medical whistle-blowers like me (see the previous reference to the legal trolls above) who've been battered and buried by disinterested/sold-out local DA's and their corporate cabals?

Where are stronger laws against "non-profit" corporations (a dominating force in medicine) who would withhold public records - or monopolize public resources to their own end - or commit bold-faced crimes to get their way?

I also know Harold Brubaker (can't link here, so Google Dr. J's Housecalls and his name) and I can assure you that when it comes to right against might - this guy is LAST in line. I'm still waiting for good old Harold to do right by this public-servant-done-wrong-right-under-his-Republican-nose.

His excuse for not lifting a finger?

Why he had to live in Asheboro!

As I said, still waiting for one of my duly-elected reps in Asheboro/Randolph County - who all know I'm here because they DO read this blog - to invite me to Raleigh for sit-down.

Because I could tell the committees how the lawyers really work.

P.S. (especially for Harold Brubaker):  I don't blog everything I know - or have been told about the "right people" of Asheboro.  This blog is not a gossip column, and I've been very kind/responsible in that regard.  So, "Mista Speaka" you might want to CURB some of the smart-assed remarks to my ex. 

Because one of these days, I might change my mind.  Over the years, you and those-whose-pocketbooks-you-serve have certainly pushed every button.

Attention National Health Services Corps (NHSC) Providers: With The Impending Government Shutdown, Beware Of An Old Bait-&-Switch Tactic That Will SCREW YOU

The looming Federal government shutdown is really bringing back the memories.

(OBTW, I say, SHUT 'ER DOWN . . . our government and this President need to come to terms with living and spending beyond our means).

The Clinton administration didn't just screw-me-over-after-the-fact on the full enforcement of my National Health Service Corps (NHSC) agreement with Randolph Medical Associates/Randolph Hospital.  Nope.  My Federal loan repayment deal in Asheboro was almost torpedoed before I even began "serving time" in the good ole hometown. 

I signed on to begin as RMA's first Pediatrician in May 1995. 

During recruitment, I submitted all the paperwork and was told that all the i's were dotted and t's crossed for my public service obligation to begin counting down as soon as I started working in Asheboro (or very shortly thereafter).  But with the government shut down that fall, the Federal government started sending out notices to new NHSC providers that their fledgling agreements were null and void. 

The message was that we'd have to re-apply (?!?).  And since we were already recruited and in place, we would probably not qualify to be "re-recruited". 

In other words, NO LOAN REPAYMENT.  

It was ABSURD, and a total bullshit bait-&-switch maneuver.  Moreover, it did not fly - either with me or with Dr. Anderson (who had signed on under the same arrangement).  Some fairly scathing correspondence with government officials ensued.  Congressmen's office doors were rattled.  Lawyers were (informally) consulted.  When the political grandstanding in Washington died down, Dr. Anderson and I were suddenly back on the NHSC's rolls . . . not retroactively to "time already served" . . . but to begin in January 1996.  My two-year obligation concluded in January 1998.

(And we know what happened in January 1998.)

At the time, since I had planned to make Asheboro a career, a turn of the screw on the front end (a matter of only a few months) didn't matter.

But in the wake of thirteen-years and multiple turns of THE SCREW, it matters now. 

One of my theories pertaining to what colored some of (RMA Director) Mike Bridges and (RMA President) Steven Eblin's malevolent machinations way-back-when has always been that Dr. Kathleen Riley (their pet and favorite because she never said no to any of management's money-making schemes) wanted me and/or Dr. Anderson OUT of RMA/Asheboro so that she could qualify for the same deal we got from the NHSC . . . a deal I was informed she had actually forfeited (assuming penalties and interest) when she left another NHSC site in Eastern North Carolina (to work for RMA) without making prior arrangements. 

After the government shutdown, we were told that RMA only qualified for two Pediatricians . . . not three.  Dr. Riley was livid.  To the best of my knowledge, at the time of my termination, the practice was still haggling with the government over this.  Practice Director Bridges was very cagey about the situation when I asked questions.

Of course, after I "left" Asheboro not-of-my-own-accord, RMA lost its eligibility as an NHSC site . . . courtesy of multiple rounds of correspondence I sent to Federal officials (including Howard Coble) - ultimately culminating in a letter to then-Clinton DHHS Secretary Shalala (as a direct response to a request by the NHSC for feedback). 

In other words, the Federal government found my correspondence and supporting documentation very credible - and took punitive action against RMA. 

Alas, apart from making sure my malpractice tail was paid - nine months after the fact - the government did little else - despite their clear obligations to me under their own service agreement.

I've always suspected that Dr. Riley was able to complete her NHSC service obligation between the time I was fired (benefiting from the practice suddenly - and conveniently for Dr. Riley - being one doctor down), and the time the Feds removed RMA from their list of approved NHSC sites.  I could be wrong.  But I doubt it. 

Of course, even if she didn't get back into the NHSC's program, she probably could've paid off her debt a whole lot faster anyway - when her salary suddenly jumped by MANY THOUSANDS of dollars - courtesy of a new physician reimbursement & incentive program adopted immediately after I was fired . . . her bonuses fed by the patients I was forced to leave behind - as Randolph Hospital LIED TO EVERYONE UNDER THE SUN ABOUT WHAT WAS GOING ON - AND OUR LOCAL DEAF, DUMB AND BLIND "NEWSPAPER" GAVE THEM A TOTAL PASS.

Even after getting BUSTED on their controlled affiliate's monopolize-the-Pediatric-"business"-for-themselves tactics, somehow Randolph Hospital still had the cahoones to sue me for "libel" over the content of my letter to Shalala. 

And alas, the Federal government was nowhere to be found when that happened (so much for "whistle-blower protection").  If had not been for Dr. Anderson - and Dr. Toy - I might have been WAY up the legal creek. 

The thing is that RMA's lawyers did not know about Anderson & Toy's letters when Randolph Hospital filed its despicable SLAPP-suit. 

It wasn't Steve Schmidly's great lawyering that sent the hospital packing.

The Feds have likewise done absolutely nothing about Bob Morrison and Steven Eblin repeatedly lying their asses off in the discovery responses of their own "libel" lawsuit . . . in order to save the "non-profit"-hospital-that-fronted-their-every-malicious-act some money.

I digress.  Since the days of Hillary's village, NOTHING has changed for NHSC doctors.  It's glorified indentured servitude of the medical profession's youngest and most fiscally-disadvantaged . . . and in many places, it's a "revolving door" of 2-3 years . . . as the government only really cares about putting warm bodies in "under-served" areas, and does not fret so much about the stated mission of recruiting physicians in a fashion as to RETAIN them. 

In the NHSC, physicians ARE "a dime a dozen", and new suckers are graduated every year.

Styling the old and stale as "reform", Obamacare paid exalted lip service and threw truckloads of new funding at the program.

My point is this:  If the Federal government does shut down, new NHSC physicians need to be on the look-out for the same kind of stunts - courtesy of the Obama administration.

Don't count on the IRS, now charged with the oversight of things they are not nearly equipped to oversee, to have your back.  They did not have mine.

You see, some things do not change.

N.C. Senate Bill 31: Not Holding My Breath On The Po-Po Starting Their Engines

Rumor has it that former-North-Carolina-Senator-turned-porn-star John Edwards is suicidal over the prospect of being indicted and going to jail.  So many places to go . . .

Meanwhile, speaking of the Old North State . . . the land of convicted felons-and-unindicted-co-conspirators-who-previously-"served"-in-public-office . . . over at "Respectful Insolence", the mighty Orac has a most excellent rant up on North Carolina Senate Bill 31.  The Insolent One pretty much surgically rips-to-shreds the-usual-suspects who oppose (and are reportedly trying to water-down) the bill . . . which originally proposed to "plug a loop-hole" and prosecute anyone who practices medicine without a license as a felon. 

Orac gets in a number of shots at what passes for medical oversight in North Carolina . . . as well as Dr. Rashid Buttar.

Neither Orac nor his frequent-target-of-ridicule, woomeister Mike Adams, are from around these parts.  But those of us who have long labored in North Carolina as bastard medical stepchildren . . . under the watchful eyes of convicted-or-soon-to-be-convicted felons-and-their-sycophants-in-positions-of-professional-oversight . . . could tell both of them to cool their jets. 

Since the police vans have yet to swoop into Asheboro and take down a couple of well-connected-thugs-in-suits-who-clearly-would-have-preferred-that-I-let-a-baby-die-under-the-care-of-someone-whose-skills-and-credentials-they-had-falsely-advertised . . . self-serving-way-overpaid-trolls who could be prosecuted as felons under existing laws . . . I'm not too worried about the po-po starting-their-engines over a new piece of un-enforced tripe coming out of Raleigh.

Bev doesn't have the money to pay for the gas in the van.

On The Recent Assault Of A Child At Brenner Children's Hospital

Have been busy at work, and laboring over a project.  Haven't felt at all like blogging.

But this story out of Winston-Salem, indeed, out of my alma-mater (Bowman Gray/N.C. Baptist/Brenner Children's Hospital) . . . about the scum-sucking-piece-of-excrement who attacked a child he'd apparently already assaulted WHILE SHE WAS IN THE HOSPITAL AND ON MONITORS . . . has had me scratching my head - for a number of reasons (knowing some of the inner workings of that facility - particularly as it pertains to dealing with those suspected of child abuse) that I shall not divulge here. 

It's acutally very refreshing to see that, rather than bury what happened, Brenners reported the incident and has more-or-less invited scrutiny of its operational policies and procedures (from JCAHO, the N.C. Division of Health Service Regulation, and the American Nurses Credentialing Center).

If what I suspect happened, happened, it's about a whole lot MORE than a lowly nurse's decisions - or credentials, and I hope that N.C. Baptist fixes whatever deficits in medical (or other) judgement led to a prolonged and particularly vicious assault on a child-under-their-care, and do not sacrifice some poor night nurse (or other unfortunate medical being lower in the food chain) to to the politically-correct gods of quelling public outrage . . .

. . . the same gods who were asleep in Asheboro thirteen years ago - and are still asleep - because the local press had to cover Randolph Hospital's (and Moses Cone Hospital's) guilty tails.

I've yet to see JCAHO or the N.C. Division of Health Service Regulation, or the N.C. Medical Board or the Internal Revenue Service LIFT A FINGER to do anything about what happened in that case (the false advertising, the threats, the sub-standard care leading to a sentinel event) - or what was subsequently done to a physician-in-public-service (the cover-up, the intimidation tactics/SLAPP-suit/the PERJURY) who put duty and a critically-ill baby first.

Of course, it's probably just the difference between delivering - and receiving - "world-class care" in a small town vs. the big city.

Yes, that must be it.

Getting back to my project now.

The War On Doctors Continues

This story from the Las Vegas Review Journal - about an internist charged with "murder" because a patient died after abusing medications that he LEGALLY PRESCRIBED . . . the DEA basing its murder charge, "not on an independent investigation, but rather on information brought forward by a lawyer who filed a malpractice case" . . . was sent to me by a friend.

There are so many places to go with this story, and tonight I just don't have the time.  But it's a well-done piece of semi-investigative journalism . . . with several well-represented points-of-view . . . that stands on its own . . . and I encourage you to read it.

I will say that one quote (from DEA spokesman, Rusty Payne) did LEAP out of the screen at me . . . "Doctors receive a chunk of change for every prescription they write."

Huh???  Yeah sure, Mr. Payne.  On WHAT planet?

Interestingly enough, the Las Vegas Review Journal is the flagship of the Stephens Media Group - which owns the Courier Tribune.  Notice how my friend and I were able to access the entire story - and read it - and use the link for commentary (under the doctrine of fair use).

Of course we all know how I feel about the Courier Tribune . . . since I reported MULTIPLE FELONIES to the local DA's office back in 2003 (and again in 2005) . . . and I'm still sitting here waiting for a proper independent investigation.  In this case, the lawyers don't want to own up to the stink in their own back yard.  And our newspaper doesn't think that the local "non-profit" hospital trashing a home-grown Pediatrician's career for spite is newsworthy.

The locals are bad enough, but Federally speaking, DEA can criminalize the doctor-who-may-have-been-careless-but-acted-within-the-law in the big city, but in the little bergs drenched in "small town values" the IRS/FBI cannot prosecute the criminals in suits who knowinlgy and deliberatedly broke the law to punish a doctor who faced them down in order to save a life.

Makes perfect sense to me.

As an afterthought, it's also nice to see a group of doctors stand on principle and defend one of their own (even if he's not perfect) . . . as opposed to standing by deaf, dumb and blind while a colleague is professionally-raped for all the wrong reasons.

Late Evening Update:

The friend who sent me the story did not make the connection between the Las Vegas Review Journal and the Courier Tribune until he read this post.

If You're A Doctor Or A Teacher, You Cannot Win On The Duty-To-Report Under Garland Yates' Jurisdiction

It's a bit of a re-hash, but necessary to make the point.  This blog exists because thirteen years ago, I answered a nurse's phone call in the middle of the night and intervened in a neonatal case being botched by another physician.

By ALL accounts, I saved the child's life.  Defying the prior threats of hospital executives (and naively expecting ethics and right to trump greed and might) I reported the incident/doctor to hospital peer review the next morning. 

I was fired two weeks later.  My life has never been the same.  For years, mired in litigation and black-balled for miles, I could barely make ends meet.  I'm not supposed to be bitter or angry over what Randolph Hospital's executives did to me - or what I've endured since. 

When I finally felt "safe" in doing so, I eventually reported what happened to the N.C. Medical Board - to the Joint Commission (JCAHO) - and to the U.S. & N.C. Departments of Health & Human Services (i.e. the governments in whose service I labored at the time the incident happened). 

For that, I was sued for "libel".

When the lawsuits were settled in my favor (three years after the nightmare began), I was swindled by perjury, contempt and fraud.  Perjury does not have a statute of limitations in North Carolina.  I've reported the crime (in 2003) .  . . the multiple felonies . . . to every local/state/Federal law enforcement agency under the sun.

Those agencies have done nothing (enabled by local journalists who, despite all their noble prattle, turned a deaf ear).  An investigation by local law enforcement has not even been conducted - even though the charges involve a "non-profit".  The executives I accuse are simply too important in the great scheme of things.  I've been told our noble DA is exercising his discretion . . . the effect these white-collar criminals have has on my life be damned.

Ala Nifong & the Duke Lacrosse fiasco, the North Carolina Attorney General asserts that he cannot intervene in the case unless he is asked (since I honorably completed state and Federal service obligations while employed by a "non-profit", I think it's a BS excuse).

The IRS/Feds have told me that my case simply isn't important enough to pursue.  Of course, these are the same nimrods who still haven't indicted John Edwards.  And the IRS is the same agency that is now charged with ensuring that patients are properly served under Obamacare.

If the Feds don't help the doctor fired/sued/swindled for putting a patient first, just exactly WHAT do you think they'll do for you, the patient?

I digress. Very similar to their duty to report anything that might put a patient in harm's way, doctors have a legal duty to report child neglect and/or abuse as soon as they are made aware of (or even suspect that) it has happened.  It's a practice I freely embrace, because it's not our jobs to figure out what is criminal and what is not - or to investigate anything (beyond taking a history and doing an exam).  Our primary concern - and duty - is to ensure the health, safety and well-being of the child - by promptly reporting what we know or suspect to the proper authorities so THEY can investigate.

Teachers have the same duty.

For that reason, I've followed the case of Vivacious Crews . . . the former principal of East Montgomery Middle School in Biscoe - who was charged (under a new law in North Carolina) with failing to report crimes of a sexual nature (assaults nvolving members of the school's soccer team - who were subsequently charged with misdemeanors) as soon as she knew about it . . . with some interest.

I'd link the story in the Courier Tribune - but there's no point, because it's behind their uber-stupid paywall. 

(There's a reason Ray Criscoe is back down to publishing six days a week . . .. a newspaper's credibility is deeply intertwined with its economics.  I "understand" perfectly.)

Now, given my own experience in Randolph County, it's not hard to read "COVER-UP!!!" into Ms. Crew's actions, as she tried (I think misguidedly) . . . through a series of interviews with parents and students over a period of several days . . . to sort out who did what to whom before she reported what happened to law enforcement.

But it wasn't Crews' job to do that.  It was her job to report what she had been told - about an alleged assault of a sexual nature on school property - to the police.  And she should have done it immediately (I do have to wonder why the parent involved - if she was so hellbent on prosecuting someone - went to the principal first instead of the police?  Why put school personnel in the middle?). 

Not immediatly reporting the allegations ultimately cost the principal her job.  But it was a mistake in judgement . . . and perhaps a lack of experience . . . that, IMHO, just doesn't rise to the level of a crime.

Never you mind.  The Randolph County DA's office (which also "serves" Montgomery County) exercised their discretion and prosecuted her anyway.  They were grandstanding - as that office is prone to do.

And on Friday, a jury acquitted Crews of the charges.

Of course, I have a rather unique prism through which to view Garland Yates' DA's office, and the case.  It's also been my experience that when they're on a tear, rightly or wrongly, some parents take no prisoners and you'd best not be in their way.

But "intent" actually does MEAN something - should mean something - in a case like this, and it's not as if Ms. Crews knowingly put her hand on a Bible and swore a series of false answers to the Court in an effort to seal-the-deal on a vendetta, save some money and line her pockets.

Let's review:

Under Garland Yates' jurisdiction, if you report something bad that happened to a child, you can be fired, sued for libel, and swindled of just restitution.

If you don't report, you can be fired and criminally prosecuted.

There's no way to win.  Rocks and hard places and all that.

I wish Ms. Crews the best as she re-builds her life.  I'd advise her to get-the-hell-out of this neck-of-the-woods to do it.  I'm glad both of her parents saw her vindicated.  I also think some of the other players involved in this case need to look at their own motivations and intent in their efforts to brand her a criminal.

Apples, after all, do not fall far from trees.  We lead by example and our kids, if they survive what is reported, are what we teach them to be.  Everybody could have done a better job here.

Speaking Of Throwaway News In Asheboro . . .

. . . Klaussner Furniture has been sold.  Interesting.  April Fools?

I'm sure the Courier will have something online in a week or so.

Saturday Morning Update:  Well, it wasn't a joke.  And someone on the Courier's "staff" is actually awake on a weekend.  Go figure.  But for a newspaper that supposed to deliver "what no other medium in our market can provide", the report seems to be only a slightly-gorified re-hash of the Fox 8 story - with not much information provided that could not be deduced (i.e. the financing) - or that we didn't already know.

The question that didn't get answered/provided is, "What does this MEAN for Asheboro?".  Asheboro/it's public resourses have bent over to service Klaussner's best interests for years.  What's in it for the town now?

Throw-Away News

Since Friday is a "throw-away news day" I thought it appropriate to briefly comment on two stories that will most certain break late on a Friday afternoon . . . when they break.

Folks in my immediate hometown sphere (I believe that Courier Tribune "reporter", J.D. Walker, would call it a "quarter") are taking bets on which story will break first - padlocks on Community One's doors - or the criminal indictment of former N.C. Senator-turned-porn-star John Edwards. 

Both are overdue, IMHO.  And I'm not taking any bets.

I continue to follow the thread at the GSO N&R on its most recent Community One story - you know, the one that had the Courier Tribune (my favorite newspaper - NOT) beat by 5 days.  And, although it's a little late to still be dropping comments on that story, I did post there again today - in response to a comment scolding those of us who are enjoying watching some of Asheboro's mightiest-&-smuggest fall for being "smug":

. . . are you REALLY going to go there?

"Feeling smug"? Really?  I'm FROM Asheboro - and, at one point in time, I did business with FNB.  And I've watched others do business with them.  And I can assure you that over the years, the "right people" of Asheboro - including and especially Mike Miller (I DO blame him) - who ran this bank into the ground with their greed and risky expansionist theories - did not give a rat's tail about the folks who wound up with the smelly end of the stick.  They've sneered and spit for years at the ordinary people of Asheboro . . . used and manipulated them for their purposes . . . they are the DEFINITION of "smug" and "arrogant" and "cliquish".

They're getting a karmic comeuppance now - and the only thing that doesn't make it a beautiful thing to watch is knowing that a whole lot of people who do not deserve it - who TRUSTED this bank - who will be going down with them.

With regards to the Courier Tribune . . . PUHLEASE!!!  Maybe they could get people to go on the record if ANYONE in town trusted them to tell a story - not just fairly - but tell it PERIOD.

http://drjshousecalls.blogspot.com/2011/03/buzz-armfield-on-record-on-community.html


Moving on along, the Greensboro N&R reported yesterday that Edwards' former left-hand man, Andrew Young, was re-interviewed by the Feds yesterday - increasing speculation that the t's are being crossed and i's dotted for an impending indictment.  The story was in the News & Observer today - and was once again shaded towards questioning Young's credibility as a witness for the prosecution (without making any comparison to the wholesale liar who would be sitting in the defendant's chair). 

It makes me sick that North Carolina's big-city newspapers continue to front for their once-favorite-son . . . and attempt to soften the blows deservedly coming his way (much like the Courier Tribune provided a light, fluffy exit for Mike Miller's hop, skip and jump into the President's chair at Pfeiffer College).

You have to wonder who the source for this story is - because it's definitely slanted in favor of Edwards.

I'm thinking that the Edwardian sex tape case was NEVER about getting the sex tape back. That horse is out of the barn - and it will probably be on Pay-Per-View soon. It was primarily about attacking Young's credibility before an indictment - throwing the legal kitchen sink at him INSTEAD of Edwards (where it needs to be thrown) and trying to ward off a criminal case.

I'm also thinking that, in this particular "public integrity" case, the American people are just a little tired of Obama's Justice Department stalling. You also have to wonder about what kind of deals were struck when they were still candidates - before Edwards dropped out of the race.

Edwards' entire second campaign for President was about perpetuating a FRAUD. It's time he paid the Piper.

I'm kinda wondering how different things might have been in both of these cases if our local and state newspapers had taken off the rose-colored glasses, and not thrown away so much of the news coming their way . . .

. . . if they'd actually had a "watchful eye"?

Evening Update

It just gets better and better.  The National Enquirer reports that the Feds were grilling Young in an effort to decide how they might use him.  He could be indicted as a "co-conspirator" (ala John Dean), and (as opposed to just being called as a witness), might be prosecuted on a lesser charge in exchange for his testimony.

Perjury being so important to the Feds and all.