Reform of Meedical Disciplinary Process-Call Governor and legislators

[Guest guest]

Hi Health Activists,

The bill introduced in the NYS Legislature to Streamline the Medical

Disciplinary Process pays very little attention to the due process rights of the

doctors and other licensees subject to the bill. In the NYS Assembly A11136 A

bill to Clarify and Strengthen the Authority of the medical disciplinary process

has been introduced in the Assembly Health Committee by Chairman Richard

Gottfried with a companion bill S8298 introduced in the Senate by Health

Committee Chairman Kemp Hannon of Nassau County.

One of the major changes is the proposal to post the charges against a

doctor as soon as they are served on the practitioner on the website of the

Office

of Professional Medical Conduct (OPMC). Prior to a decision or expiration of

the time for the doctor to file an answer to the charges, a limited

disclaimer that the " Charges are allegations which may be contested by the

licensee

in an administrative hearing. "

This presumption of guilt, turns the traditional presumption of innocence

until proven guilty on its head. If OPMC had a history of only going after bad

doctors, one could see some merit to this, but that has not been the case.

OPMC would now have the power to further limit the doctor from earning a living

to help pay for the considerable costs of a legal defense.

The bill does not address any of the unfair practices in the investigation

and hearing process's that have ignored the spirit and intent of the

Alternative Medical Practice Act passed in 1994.

Please call Governor David Patterson at his NYC office 212-681-4580,

Assemblyman Richard Gottfried, who represents the West Side of Manhattan, at

212-807-7900 and Senator Kemp Hannon who represents Nassau County at

516-739-1700.

If you live closer to Albany call Governor Patterson at 518-474-8390 and

Senator Hannon at

518-455-2200.

Ask that they amend A11136/S8298 to add protections for alternative medical

practitioners by directing that the

 

Physicians whose practice is mostly in the field of Alternative Medicine

SHALL be represented on the NYS Board of Professional Medical Conduct. When

Investigations are conducted and if hearings are warranted, the designated

panel

should have representatives who are familiar with and practice alternative

medicine as a substantial part of their medical practice. The composition of

the panels provides for a " lay " member of the public, but those chosen as lay

representatives have often been ancillary employees of the hospitals or

doctors dealing with the delivery of health care. This practice has been used

to

remove consumer-patient input into the decision making process that effects

consumers. The medical board should also make an effort to assure that members

of the panels hearing disciplinary cases, be rotated. In the past some members

have been selected more frequently than chance would dictate. The rules of

evidence applying to investigations and disciplinary hearings should allow the

acceptance into evidence of medical and scientific literature on the topic

without having to produce the author of the study. Many alternative therapies

can only be explained using these studies.

Another bill A07899 also introduced by Assemblyman Gottfried addresses some

of these issues. But since this bill has no companion Senate bill, it is not

going anywhere.

arnold

 

 

 

 

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