I got an email today from one of the finest integrative medicine dostors in the state of Texas. Dr. Hotze practices a progressive form of medicine that can't be denied from the scientific literature or his patient's outcomes. They are both excellent. I would like to think my style of practice is or will be similar someday. The email told me about the temperature of complete and total discontent in the field of healthcare. Not because people want socialized medicine, but because they don't want anyone limiting their choices when it comes to being healed. The National Foundation of Women Legislators (NFWL) (with over 2000 elected women representatives from throughout the US) passed a resolution that makes me want to dance a jig!
They basically said, "Don't try to sneak around the back door and make a mockery of excellent doctors through administrative abuse!" They are attacking a dishonest and conflict-of-interest driven system of "quackbusting" that has held sway for many, many years. The State Boards of Medical Examiners have had the ability to strip doctor's licesnes on a whim for decades and have been the hidden police force that limits medical innovators and innovation (that doesn't rely on pharmaceuticals). At every conference I've attended on alternative medicine for the past twenty years I have heard stories of the abuse and recklessness of State Boards only praying that I wouldn't be exposed to their tactics. I'll come back to that another time.
The whole resolution tells the story best , so I post it here!
NFWL
Health & Empowerment Policy Committee
Resolution
on State Medical Boards
Passed October 13, 2007
WHEREAS, the spectrum of services provided by medical
professionals in the United States comprises the foundation of our nation's
superior standard of living and enhances the very fabric of the lives of its
citizenry; and
WHEREAS, the State Medical Boards
(hereafter "the boards") exist for the purpose of maintaining the
high standards of excellence to which medical professionals in this country are
held, and the public good is served by the boards' oversight of these
standards; and
WHEREAS, the boards have
tolerated practices and behaviors that obstruct the sworn duty of medical
professionals in this country to provide health care services to the public,
namely:
(1) the acceptance of anonymous complaints
from insurance companies, hospitals, pharmaceutical companies, attorneys and
competitors;
(2) the acceptance of opinions from
“expert” witnesses;
(3) the lack of accountability of board;
(4) the prohibition of notes and recordings
in hearings; and
(5) the denial of physicians their due
process;
(6) the administration of disciplinary
action for menial and trivial records’ findings;
(7) the use of tactics of intimidation;
(8) the manipulation of assignments to the
Informal Settlements Conference (ISC) panels rather than a fair system of
random assignments;
(9) the forcing of settlements, and:
(10) the act of ignoring conflicts of
interest that arise regarding members of the board;
BE IT RESOLVED, the National Foundation of Women Legislators
Healthcare and Empowerment Commitment advocates the elimination of the practices
listed above and their replacement with the following:
(1) a commitment to the sacredness of the
patient/doctor relationship;
(2) the increased transparency of charges
and proceedings;
(3) the increased accountability of board
members for their actions;
(4) the increased integrity on behalf of
board members in carrying out their responsibilities;
(5) the acceptance of and giving equal
weight to evaluations of a physician’s care by physicians other than those
chosen as “expert “ witnesses by the board;
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that
National Foundation for Women Legislators does hereby recommend for the
creation of independent and public Medical Board Oversight Committees in each
state, appointed by the legislature, and charged with a range of duties and
authority that will ensure the enactment and enforcement of such general
policies as advocated above, including the ability to receive and evaluate
complaints from patients and medical professionals against the boards and their
members.
