4AM
I have told myself that I need to get back to the blog. I have not written in a while and I am going to do my utmost to try to post something at least two or three times a week. I will do my best to get back to this as I feel some of the information that I pass long can be helpful.
As I write this, it’s currently before 4AM on a Saturday early morning. I have been unable to sleep as I am still very angry and upset from an ISC that occurred for one of clients on Friday. I obviously cannot go into any real details regarding the case. However, I can say that I one point I told the Board members present that my client was afraid of the Board. One of the members told me that my client should not be afraid. The Board’s role was to protect the public and to make my doctor the best doctor possible. The Board wanted to make this matter (for which we had three experts that said the client was within the standard of care) was an educational experience to improve the skills of my client. The client expressed gratitude and only wanted to provide the very best for his patients. When we returned the Board recommendation was to suspend my client for 30 days! Of course, I told the Board this was wholly unacceptable. Clearly, his fear of the agency was justified.
The odds are this case is going to litigation; which is a shame.
I am upset for a number of reasons that I cannot go into at this time. For the last several hours I have been de-constructing the hearing to see what went wrong. I see some things that could have been do better; but the long and short seems to me that all the information we provided, which included our expert reports, journal articles supporting the care and multiple statements regarding the care; were not considered equal to the Board’s consultant report, which was unsupported by peered review statement and rather unspecific. Moreover, the Board member disagreed with the client’s approach to the patient, thus it was a violation of the standard of care.
My feeling is you 10 doctors in a room, you’re going to get 10 different ways to handle a problem. Different approaches do not necessarily equal a violation of the standard of care.
I’m just frustrated by this approach. I do not believe we received a fair hearing as we were not heard. I feel that had we done nothing, the outcome would have been the same.
I may be wrong about this…I just can’t sleep.
The problem seems to be that the board thinks discipline is educational for a physician, but a report to the National databank is destructive to a doctor’s ability to credential for insurance and hospital and it follows throughout the career. I believe there must be due process at the ISC level and if there will not be than the board should be sunsetted. Your notes from the Board meeting in June tell us that the board does not listen to the respondent’s experts and literature. This situation is just not right at all, and should not be allowed to continue as it is.
You are not wrong. You feel the same way my attorney felt after my ISC, like the outcome was predetermined and not just. It has been a couple of years since then but the memories of that event still ring loud and clean. I could go on for hours about what I feel was done unjustly but until someone holds the board accountable nothing will change. The pending lawsuit does not seem to have had and effect. My “educational” experience has taught me to never give up or give in because if you do you will always wish you had fought harder for what was right. Please keep us informed as this is one of a very few links to what is really happening. Good luck.