Texas physicians go after corrupt medical board.

October 16, 2007

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 â€œexpertâ€ 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 recordsâ€™

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 physicianâ€™

s care by physicians other than those chosen as â€œexpert â€œ 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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Forwarded Message:

Subj: Update from Dr. Shirley Pigott and the Texas Medical Board Watch

Date: 10/16/2007 8:45:42 P.M. Pacific Daylight Time From: _SFH@..._

(mailto:SFH@...) Sent from the Internet _(Details)_

(aolmsg://0363ad10/inethdr/2)

____________________________________

From: Shirley Pigott [mailto:shirleypigottmd@...]

Sent: Tuesday, October 16, 2007 9:57 PM

Friends,

The Texas House committee hearing on the Texas Medical Board is fast

approaching, scheduled in Austin on October 23, 2007. Hotze MD and Andy

Schlafly JD of AAPS deserve the lion's share of credit for making these happen.

We anticipate positive changes as a result of these hearings.

Please alert your elected Texas representatives so they can make plans to

attend.

Texas Medical Board Watch's top priorities are to expose the following TMB

members and professional staff. We believe that exposure will be sufficient

to remove them from their current positions where power is abused.

The four persons listed below are still in positions of leadership such that

if any one of them acted responsibly, the abuse of power by the Texas

Medical Board, bad faith peer review, and destruction of the careers of good

physicians would not occur. The four physicians whose names follow theirs have

had

complaints lodged against them on several occasions with the TMB, but the TMB

refuses to acknowledge receipt.

(1) a Kalafut DO - president of the Texas Medical Board. I have lodged

a formal complaint with the board that Dr. Kalafut intends to defraud and

deceive the public by her TMB website biography which states that she completed

her residency at s Hopkins. s Hopkins has no record of any residency

by Dr. Kalafut. She has been given every opportunity to produce evidence to

the contrary and has not.

(2) Simpson JD - general counsel of the Texas Medical Board. It was

Simpson who begged the Board not to follow the recommendations of

Administrative Law Judge Harvel to dismiss the board's complaint to the

State

Office of Administrative Hearings against Kuhne MD. Judge Harvel's

analysis of Dr. Kuhne's case of accidental overcharge by $40 is attached. The

board fined Dr. Kuhne $2,000. He has spent $80,000 defending himself.

(3) MD JD - executive director of the TMB. We have video

testimony before the House Subcommittee on Regulatory Agencies which

demonstrate

Dr. 's biggest concern is that he has 'absolute immunity' for all the

wrongdoings of the Board. Of course, without Dr. 's direction, the

TMB would be unable to perform the abuse of physicians which is its current

habit.

(4) Mari JD - director of investigations, enforcement, and

compliance. I have four registered mail receipts for complaints I have

submitted to

the TMB, two each on E MD and Doug Curran MD. has

either destroyed or misplaced these herself or has caused them to be destroyed

or

misplaced without logging them into the system. It appears it is virtually

impossible to get an honest, legitimate complaint about a licensed physician

past .

The Texas Medical Board must act on the complaints I have made against Doug

Curran MD, E MD, Fred Merian MD, and Dee Whittlesey MD

(1) Doug Curran MD - threatened retaliation against me through his long-time

friend for making allegations against him of conflict of

interest. He was then able to influence the TMB to sham peer review me for 'an

untimely release of a lab report'.

(2) E MD was Chairman of the TMB Disciplinary Process Review

Committee when Curran sought retaliation against me. directed the

'investigation' against me and had the board issue me a public disciplinary

order

where I would have acknowledged myself to be a 'danger to the public' with

intent to 'defraud and deceive the public' because of my 'untimely release of a

lab report'.

(3) Dee Whittlesey MD of Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Texas participated

and encouraged this sham by her oversight of the Texas Medical Advisory

Committee of BCBS, a peer-review committee on which Doug Curran, ,

and

Fred Merian served together.

(4) Fred Merian MD was treasurer of the South Texas Chapter of the Texas

Academy of Family Physicians when it was found to be over $100,000 in debt.

Doug Curran has willfully covered for Merian and minimized the significance of

the event. Curran has attempted to dissolve the STC and as unilaterally

removed me from positions of leadership within the TAFP because of my

allegations

of conflict of interest against him. He has used his position in the TAFP as a

means to deflect fault away from Merian.

I have also complained that MD has aided and abetted his nurse

practitioner Bridget Yvette RN in her unlawful prescribing and forgery

of Schedule II Controlled Substances. influenced the Texas Nursing

Board not to discipline . has influenced the Texas Department of

Public Safety not to arrest or appropriately investigate .

Texas Department of Public Safety agents Rodney Mahan and Ron Fields have

felt the pressure of my complaints against them and against DPS; it is possible

that they or may be influencing DPS to harass me. On September 29,

2007, I was terrorized by two DPS officers who arrested me; DPS is refusing to

release their identity. DPS also seized my vehicle and refuses to assist me

in recovery; DPS delivered my car to the Wharton County District Attorney who

is attempting to make the seizure 'legal'. We believe DPS gets a kickback

from the sale of vehicles which have been seized. Whether or not these events

have any connection is currently under investigation.

State Senator Glenn Hegar and State Representative Geanie on are

assisting me in learning the truth.

The attached documents are primary resources in my complaints against the

above persons.

(1) Testimonial advertisement by Doug Curran implying that BCBS is somehow

superior to other insurance companies.

(2) Texas Nursing Board nondisciplinary peer assistance agreement with

's nurse practitioner Bridget Yvette where admits to

over 50 forgeries of Schedule II Controlled Substances. has not been

arrested.

(3) Record of 's plaintiff expert testimony in eight states - 45

cases for the plaintiff; none for the defense; record through June, 2007

(4) Record of 's plaintiff expert testimony from June to August,

2007 5 additional cases for the plaintiff; none for the defense.

(5) ALJ Harvel's analysis of the TMB complaint to SOAH against Chris

Kuhne MD. Judge Harvel recommended dismissal; TMB fined Kuhne $2,000.

The Texas Medical Board exemplifies a CANCER which is devouring the American

health care system; it destroys the lives and careers of good physicians; it

denies their patients access to health care. The importance of all

physicians and all persons who are concerned about the quality and availability

of

health care working together is emphasized by the testimony of Gil Mileikowsky

MD, California physician who trained in Texas, before the United States Small

Business Administration.

Please watch his video at:

_http://www.allianceforpatientsafety.org/sba-video.php _

(http://www.allianceforpatientsafety.org/sba-video.php)

Life goes on.

Shirley Pigott MD

TexasMedicalBoardWatch.com