Texas Medical Board misbehaving

I think a new underground community has sprung up in recent years.

I just returned from a hearing in which a friend was under scrutiny and in danger of permanently losing his medical license. It was suspended pending a hearing.

And what did he do to earn this trouble? He took care of his patients and lived by all the rules.

The Texas Medical Board received a complaint from the good doctor’s son who had been working at the doctor’s clinic. The son apparently was angry because his dad would not pay him $5,000 and “give” him a percentage of the business. Oh, yeah, and this came while the son was a fugitive from the law, and himself, strung out on drugs. The family had already suffered greatly at the hands of the son before the complaint was made.

Based on the complaint from the son, which charged Dr. Richard Massey of Fredericksburg, Texas with all sorts of misconduct, the TMB wanted the Dr. Massey to send his files to be reviewed so it could be ascertained that the doctor did no wrong. Dr. Massey , whose patients — 100 percent of them — are private-pay individuals, allowed his patients a choice in case they didn’t want their personal information looked at by strangers. His patients, all of them, took their files and each patient decided to maintain his or her own.

After the TMB letter “requesting” files was sent, it was followed by a notice of subpoena. By this time, the doctor no longer had possession of the files and couldn’t comply with the order from the TMB. After thousands and thousands of dollars spent on legal advice and assistance; even more dollars lost in revenue from his medical practice, the doctor was in official administrative hearings Tuesday and Wednesday in Austin and still no resolution.

My concern is that a government agency has the power and the will to turn a man’s life upside down to the point he must now consider finding another place to live, on the basis of a capricious complaint from a known felon, fugitive and drug addict. The doctor has paid thousands of dollars to the TMB over the years in fees required to keep his license current, but the moment any complaint comes in, he is automatically suspect.

Why is no effort made to vet the person making the complaint? Perhaps this “confidential” witness business needs to be done away with. The doctor’s experience has caused me to do some research, and I’ve found his story to be only one of this nature, suffered at the hands of the TMB. That brings me to my lead-in statement. The new, under-ground culture is developing among people who’ve been oppressed and mistreated by the legal system. Individuals who’ve been forced to defend themselves against the TMB, probate courts or excessive and unnecessary law suites — many of them losing everything — are sharing their hard-earned knowledge with others who are beginning the fight and the Internet is assisting this community to assimilate its information and to organize.

In a letter from the Association of American Physicians and Surgeons Inc. to the Sunset Commission in 2004, the question is raised of excessive fines imposed by the regulatory agency. The letter “Suggestion by AAPS for the Sunset Review Committee” may be seen in its entirety at www.aapsonline.org/testimony/txsrc.htm. Part of item No. 7 “Complaints and Sanctions” follows:

Complaints are exaggerated to make accused physicians sound worse than they are; information inadvertently left off an application but indicated elsewhere leads the board to charge physicians with “defrauding the public;” a physician who removed the wrong lung during surgery received public reprimand plus a $2,500 fine while a physician failing to provide records within two weeks of the board’s request received a public reprimand plus a $10,000 fine. Fusing the spine in the wrong area resulted in a patient’s need for additional surgery and led to a public reprimand with no fine, but failure to provide requested information to the board in a timely manner resulted in a $5,000 fine.

A further look into TMB’s financial status may reveal more about the mindset of the individuals who act on behalf of the people of Texas. On the TMB Web site under the “revenue” sub-head, it states “In FY 2008-2009, the agency will collect revenue of approximately $58.1 million, an excess of $39.7 million above the agency’s current biennial budget of $18.4 million. The agency projects revenue of approximately $60 million in the FY 2010-2011 biennium and is requesting a total appropriation of approximately $21.6 million including all exceptional items. One may read the entire file at www.tmb.state.tx.us/agency/TMB_LAR_FY_2010-2011.pdf. In light of the letter from AAPS to the Sunset Committee, I think I know where that “excess revenue” is coming from. The doctors are being indiscriminately fleeced. And, the agency is requesting to increase its enforcement staffing to be able to handle the “increased number of investigations in a timely manner.” Translation: So we can fleece more doctors faster.

To add insult to injury, this government agency has never been audited. An audit would give us a picture of its revenue and the fairness of the fines imposed upon Texas doctors.

If allowed to continue in this manner, Texas will have a great deal of trouble attracting good doctors. Before long, doctors who practice alternative medicine will be gone and that will be a great loss to the people of this great state. 

If interested in more information see the following Web sites:

• Hall of Shame - Texas State Board of Medical Examiners (www.aapsonline.org/hallofshame/tx.php);

• Texas Medical Board Watch (www.texasmedicalboardwatch.com);

• The Texas Medical Board Vs. Doctors...More Corruption in Texas (http://theeprovocateur.blogspot.com/2008/05/texas-medical-board-vs-doctorsmore.html);

• or use one of the search engines and search for “Texas Medical Board.”

From Thomas Jefferson:    

WHEN THE PEOPLE FEAR THEIR GOVERNMENT ,THERE IS TYRANNY...

WHEN THE GOVERNMENT FEARS THE PEOPLE , THERE IS LIBERTY.     

Donny Anderson's annual Sports Gala

I went to the Winners for Life Foundation Sports Gala Thursday, saw lots of friends and had lots of fun.

Donny Anderson, former NFL great with the Green Bay Packers, hosted the event and got plenty of his NFL Alumni friends to join in the raising of funds to provide scholarships for area college students.

knows the value of education. He learned it from his father. Now he tries to pass on that lesson to anyone who will listen. He not only teaches the values of education, he also puts his efforts and money behind it through his Winners for Life Foundation. What’s different about the scholarships offered through WFL is the qualifications. They are not required to have the best grades; but they have to be in need of the financial help.

For the past four years, Anderson's foundation has brought close to $30,000 each year to Grayson County students in the form of college scholarships. Three of those students spoke to the crowd gathered at the Dallas Convention Center Thursday to say thank you for an opportunity to have a future. They are all Grayson County students.

Brianna Mundine, of Sherman, said she was nervous before ascending to the stage to say her thank yous. "I just prayed about it and did fine, but I was glad it was over," she said. While on stage Mundine credited her grandparents with providing a home for her. Her early life was filled with strife, which included drugs, in the lives of her parents. Her father, she said, has been in jail most of her life, and her mother also spent two years in jail. She said she never felt really loved as a young child. By age 16, Brianna was pregnant and by 17 she had a baby, a full-time job and was a full-time student.

"I actually thought I would not be able to go to college," Mundine said. "The money from Winners for Life is making the difference for me."

The young woman whose degree plan includes psychology and sociology, plans to work with teenage mothers. "I've been through pretty much everything you can touch in a troubled home," Mundine said. "I do feel like anyone coming from any circumstance can overcome any obstacle (as I did) with God in my life. Since I converted my life He (God) has made a way for me."

Mundine said teenage mothers need to hear her encouraging story to know there is a way to a better life.

Joanna Ramirez of Denison also plans to use her past to help people in her future. She is also attending college on a Winners for Life scholarship. She plans a degree in psychology and then she wants to enter the military and attend law school. Her practice, she says, will be in family law because she believes she can make a valuable contribution.

Ramirez told the folks at the sports gala that as a young child, a closet was the only place she found to hold safety for her. As she choked back her tears, she described her time in the closet and told of how she heard the screams of her mother being beaten by her father. This continued until she was about 13 and when she told of how she and her brother finally got the courage to stand up to their father, spontaneous applause filled the room.

Ramirez explained that she would not be in college except for the help from Winners for Life. "Getting this scholarship shows me there is somebody out there who cares," she said. "It's more than just the money. It's knowing that people who don't know me are willing to help me better myself. It's better for all of us, for the community."

Anderson credits his football career and his association with Vince Lombardi for learning the value of giving back to his community. He partnered with retired teacher Linkie Seltzer Cohn in 1996 to write a book of encouragement for young people titled "Winners for Life" and its impact led to the creation of the WFL Foundation.

Check out the foundation’s Web site at www.wflfoundation.org.

Happy Easter

At a charity event I attended recently, one of the speakers, a local girl, talked about her early life when a closet was her favorite place because it was the only place where she felt safe. It was her only escape from the mayhem caused by the beatings inflicted on her mother by her father.
She was 13 when the beatings finally stopped and she had to find a way to put her life back together so she could have a future.

It occurred to me the timing of hearing that student speak was right in line with the Holy Week events honored by Christians remembering the death and subsequent rising of Jesus Christ. It's all about restoration.

Easter Sunday is a day we celebrate as one of new beginnings when all things are new. It's probably no accident that this event comes during a season when vegetation is returning to life. Trees are budding, flowers beginning to show themselves and the air is warming.

Great numbers of us will bow heads Sunday to worship the Son of God who died on the cross to pay for the sins of all humanity. We will marvel that our creator loves us so much he allowed his own son to suffer the humiliation of crucifixion as an offering to reconcile our sinful nature to Him.

That's why the story of Jesus Christ is called "the Good News." In order to be reconciled to God for the everlasting reward of heaven, we need only accept in our hearts that God made this offering for us. That's why we call Jesus "Savior," and that is why Easter is such a huge celebration for Christians.

Without the death and resurrection of Christ, there can be no Christianity.

Lots of religions on this planet worship deities of one sort or another, and with all, the only path to a heavenly reward is through work we do on earth. But our Bible teaches there is nothing we can do to 'earn' a place in heaven. We must accept the free gift of eternal life paid for with the suffering of Jesus Christ.

This Sunday you can find me in church like millions of others who accept the grace of God as a gift. Like the young student whose life has experienced restoration on earth, I find the Christian message of Easter to be good news indeed.

Happy Easter.