NFWL Passes Resolution to Reform Medical Boards

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NFWL Passes Resolution to Reform Medical Boards

October 14, 2007

Louisville, Kentucky

On Saturday, October 13, 2007 the National Foundation of Women Legislators

(NFWL) Health & Empowerment Policy Committee passed a resolution introduced by

Representative Debbie Riddle of Texas which called for reform of state

medical boards. Earlier, Drs. Bill Rea and Ann Block of Dallas, and Dr.

Hotze of Houston addressed the delegates to the conference regarding

public health policy. The legislators at the NFWL Annual Conference have been

concerned about the growing influence of third party interference with the

patient/doctor relationship and the involvement of state medical boards in this

activity.

The NFWL was founded in 1934 and has over 2000 members nationwide who have

been elected to public office. This resolution is will serve as a basis for

legislation in each of the 50 states.

The text of the resolution follows.

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.

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