Historic medical board reform has finally been attained in Texas, after a hard-fought struggle for years by AAPS and our members. HB 680 was signed into law on Friday to achieve these five basic reforms, as originally proposed by AAPS:
1. Establish a 7-year statute of limitations on complaints filed with the medical board.
2. End anonymous complaints.
3. Require disclosure to the physician when a complaint is filed by an insurance or pharmaceutical company.
4. Allow recording the informal settlement conferences with board officials, which will reduce their abuse of power.
5. Require the medical board to accept the findings of fact and law by the Administrative Law Judge.
AAPS thanks our members who contacted their legislators and educated them about this need for reform. And a special thanks goes to Steven F. Hotze, M.D. for his untiring efforts for reform.
These reforms would have been better if the TMA and Senator Jane Nelson had not blocked stronger provisions. With your help, we will continue to advocate for additional reforms, such as an end to ALL confidential complaints and an end to ALL conflicts of interest by Board members.
For now, congratulations on achieving this historic first step towards full medical board reform! Each state should be passing a similar law, which is posted on our website here: http://www.aapsonline.org/hb680.pdf .
THANK YOU!
