Texas Medical Board

In 1995, then Governor George Bush signed a bi-partisan Tort Reform bill into law. One of the main reasons behind Tort Reform was to reduce the power lawyers held over the medical field. Medical fees were skyrocketing due to constant threats of lawsuits from sue happy lawyers. 14 years later it is clear that Tort Reform has succeeded in someways, but now a new set of issues that must be addressed.

With the passage of Tort Reform, the Texas Medical Board  received the mandate to investigate claims of irresponsible doctors endangering their patients. The system it created, of almost Stalinistic secret trials with no appeal and no accountability to the people of Texas, endangers the rights of doctors even more. Let me explain the system to those who are unaware of how it works.

Complaints can be totally anonymous, even from the board. There are documented cases of angry wives filing complaints against doctor spouses, insurance companies filing complaints against doctors they don’t want to pay, and even doctors filing complaints against other doctors to eliminate competition. In fact, Roberta Kalafut, the former President of the Board, arranged for her husband to file complaints against her competitors. You can even make a complaint in someone else’s name, something the insurance companies have been doing to avoid paying doctors.

The argument that the Medical Board uses to justify the anonymous complaint process is that employees and patients of bad doctors might lose their jobs or might be refused treatment. I have to wonder who in their right mind would believe that their doctor was so bad they needed to lose their medical license but would continue working for the doctor and going to see them!

Once complaints are anonymously filed and accepted, the board then has anonymous experts evaluate the complaint and the doctor. These experts can be anyone that the Texas Medical Board believes to be an expert with no opportunity to challenge this assessment. Not only can doctors not challenge the expert testimony used against them, they are not even allowed to put forward testimony from their own expert witnesses countering the claims against them.

The next step in this procedure is that the doctor is invited to an “informal” meeting to decide the complaint. At this meeting, the doctor is denied the right to record or document the proceedings. The Medical Board also attempts to prevent doctors from exercising their right to have a judge hear the case. Not that it really matters, as the Medical Board can overturn the judge and strip a doctor’s license anyway. Even McCarthy’s hearings were recorded.

Competition is one of the key principles of our economy and free choice one of the founding beliefs of our nation. The Texas Medical Board is driving doctors from Texas, raising medical costs, reducing choices, and all with no accountability. We all have a right to choose our medical care, it’s even part of the Texas Constitution. It’s time for reform.

For even more information on the corruption of the Texas Medical Board, read this blog post.