On Feb 1, members of the Arizona chapter will be responding to the Call to the Public at the meeting of the Arizona Medical Board to ask Board members to overturn a decision by an Administrative Law Judge that amounts to a professional death sentence for one of our colleagues.
His crime: Prescribing Lomotil to a few pediatric patients, all of whom did fine. Also, he failed to call the police to report a patient for getting an unauthorized refill, when he learned of it months after the fact.
You might wish to attend the meeting for no other reason than that it is a very educational experience. If you are licensed in Arizona, you practice medicine only with the approval of the AMB. It is good for you to have some knowledge of the process before you get a letter from them someday.
Meetings are held at 9545 E. Doubletree Ranch Rd, Scottsdale, A 85258. They start at 8 a.m., but you should sign in by 7:30 if you wish to speak (for 3 minutes) about some item on the agenda. This should be posted at www.azmd.gov soon, under “consumers.” We think it is very important for AMB members to see that their activities are witnessed. The meeting lasts all day, but you can leave at any time; many leave after the call to the public.
At 6 p.m. on the same evening, we will have dinner in the upstairs private room of Macayo’s Mexican Kitchen, 4001 N. Central Ave. A free will donation of $25 will be accepted. We will give a brief report on AMB and legislative issues, and Dr. Orient will present a talk on Medicare options—especially opting out and disenrolling. We welcome your experiences and your questions.
RSVP: aapsonline.org/phx or (520) 325-2689
