AAPS testified in favor of medical board transparency on complaints against physicians, before the Texas Senate Jurisprudence Committee on Tuesday.
AAPS seeks the same rights for physicians that are given to dentists, attorneys and politicians: the right to see a copy of complaints filed against them. This is basic due process.
Individual physicians and patients also testified in favor of giving copies of complaints to physicians rather than withholding them from the accused, as the Texas Medical Board has been doing. Stalkers have exploited the TMB's secret complaint process to harass their targets, as one witness explained Tuesday in frightening detail. The confidential complaint process facilitates racial discrimination too, as AAPS described in our testimony.
But then the Texas Medical Association testified against physicians having the same rights as lawyers and dentists. The TMA appears to be just fine with allowing more exploitation of the confidential process by stalkers, racists, and other malicious people who file bad faith complaints.
The TMA has two puppets in the Texas Senate to secretly try to block this bill: Jane Nelson and Joan Huffman. Fortunately, there are 31 senators, and the TMA lacks enough votes to block a bill on the floor of the Senate. Call your State Senator (click here for a list) and ask him or her to become a co-sponsor of SB 1193 immediately. And call the TMA to tell it to stop denying physicians the same rights that attorneys and dentists have.
Hearing on SB 1193
End Confidential Complaints
Tuesday, April 9th, at 1:30pm is the time when SB 1193 by Senator Campbell, which eliminates confidential complaints, has been set for a public hearing in the Jurisprudence Committee in room 2E.20.
Please contact the following members of the Senate Jurisprudence Committee and encourage them to support SB 1193. Senate Jurisprudence Members:
1. Royce West: (512) 463-0123 [email protected]
2. Jose Rodriguez: (512) 463-0129 [email protected]
3. Donna Campbell, M.D.: (512) 463-0125 [email protected]
4. John Carona: (512) 463-0116 [email protected]
5. Sylvia Garcia: (512) 463-0106 [email protected]
6. Kelly Hancock: (512) 463-0109 [email protected]
7. Ken Paxton: (512) 463-0108 [email protected]
It’s time to stand up for physicians’ rights and pass legislation that requires the Texas Medical Board (TMB) to guarantee that physicians are given legal due process when they are the subjects of complaints.
SB 1193, authored by Senator Donna Campbell, M.D., promotes transparency of the actions of the TMB and establish legal due process for any physician subject to a complaint. It would eliminate confidential complaints and confidential witnesses. The identity of individuals who file confidential complaints and expert witnesses are known to the TMB but remain unknown, or anonymous, to the physicians subject to complaints.
Confidential complaints can be filed by competitors, by hospitals, pharmaceutical companies, a disgruntled employee or an angry ex-spouse. A complaint can be racist and there is no way for a doctor to know that unless he obtains a copy of the complaint. Knowing the source of the complaint enables the physician to better defend himself against false accusations. This is known as legal due process. This would enable a doctor to better defend himself, and enable the TMB to process the complaint quicker.
The Texas Bar Association, the Texas Dental Board and the Texas Ethics Commission do not allow confidential complaints. The Texas Medical Board should not allow them either, and SB 1193 can bring long overdue transparency to the TMB.
S.B. No. 1193
By: Campbell
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to the powers and duties of the Texas Medical Board and the regulation of certain persons licensed by the board.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Section 154.053, Occupations Code, is amended by amending Subsection (a) to read as follows:
(a) The board shall notify by personal delivery or certified mail a physician who is the subject of a complaint filed with the board that a complaint has been filed and shall provide the physician with a full copy, without redaction, of the complaint, including a statement of the alleged violation in plain language.
SECTION 2. Section 154.0561, Occupations Code, is amended by adding Subsections (e) and (f) to read as follows:
(e) The board shall deliver a copy of the preliminary and final reports, including any dissenting or minority report, to the physician who is the subject of the review.
(f) The name and medical credentials of each physician who files an expert report shall be provided to the physician who is the subject of review.
Section 3. Texas Medical Board shall adopt the rules required under Sections 156.059 and 301.304, Occupations Code, as added by this Act.
SECTION 4. Not later than November 1, 2013, the Texas Medical Board shall adopt the rules required under Sections 154.053 and 154.0561, Occupations Code, as added by this Act.
SECTION 5. Not later than January 1, 2014, the Texas Medical Board shall report to the governor, the lieutenant governor, and the speaker of the house of representatives concerning the adoption of rules as required by Sections 154.053 and 154.0561, Occupations Code, as added by this Act.
SECTION 6. Sections 154.053 and 154.0561, Occupations Code, as added by this Act, apply only to the investigation of a complaint or a disciplinary action based on a complaint filed on or after the effective date of this Act. The investigation of a complaint or a disciplinary action based on a complaint filed before that date is governed by the law in effect on the date the complaint was filed, and that law is continued in effect for that purpose.
SECTION 7. The changes in law made by this Act relating to the Texas Medical Board's complaint procedures apply only to a complaint filed on or after the effective date of this Act. A complaint filed before the effective date of this Act is governed by the law in effect on the date the complaint is filed, and the former law is continued in effect for that purpose.
SECTION 8. This Act takes effect September 1, 2013.
