Maryland
Board of Physicians: corruption or business as usual
Imagine
a State administrative authority that would spend hundreds of thousands of your
hard earned tax dollars to chase a physician through the “judicial system for
over a decade for paper compliance issues concerning five medical records, then
you are imagining the Maryland Board of Physicians. A vindictive
non-transparent process by this board was initiated on or about June of 2002
that culminated in a soviet style review with fake witnesses, suppression of
data, false standards of care and a legal system starving to bring physicians
to their knees culminated in a medical license revocation affecting four
thousand patients. In the time it takes to sign a cease practice order these
patients were bereft of their physician, many on class four diet
pharmaceuticals, forcing this writer to abandon them in a single afternoon.
Maryland government has a long history of corruption, now it has permeated the Board
of Physicians. Lying and deception are their weapons of choice enabled by an Appellate
Court system friendly to their every request. Maryland physicians face a very
difficult road in the State’s judicial system even when the facts are in their
favor. The case of this writer is especially noteworthy for the vicious way it
was instituted and the illicit manner in which it was carried out. Maryland
Board of Physicians obstructed this writer from defending himself at the Office
of Administrative Hearings. Including but not limited to inhibiting the
presentation of defendant expert witnesses, blocking the inclusion of
exculpatory evidence and stifling the defendant’s presentation by the most
extraordinary means possible. The state presented two physician witnesses. One
was quickly discredited by the judge and the other witness was diminished by
his own words. Utilization of the diet pharmaceutical Phentermine was the core
issue. Maryland has an unusual standard to allow witnesses to be considered
experts in a subject before a judicial panel. Dr. Ira Kaplan was allowed to testify
as an expert on the drug Phentermine even though he had minimal exposure to the
drug in his practice (claimed he used less than five times), had no specific
education in the drug, never wrote any papers on the subject and never taught
anyone on its structure or function. This was the only person the Maryland
Board of Physicians would rely on this revoke a medical license. The Court
never placed him under oath and he was free to lie and deceive per his coaching
from the Board’s attorney. Administrative judges usually are partial to state
boards, not in this case. Though two physicians must agree that a fellow
physician was acting outside the standard of care, the state witnesses had
opposing views. Under that scenario a third physician by “law” must reconcile the
differences between them, no other doctor was brought into the case. Charges
should never have been brought because of this conflict. The Administrative
judge to his credit noted the anomalies in this case and found in the most part
for this physician. Fake standards of care, specious expert witnesses and a
dazzling display of legal tricks were utilized to stop this physician from
practicing. Maryland Board of Physician’s politically appointed board, 40% of
whom are not physicians out its 21 members, reversed the decision. The stench
of a vindictive act was all over their findings because Board membership was
acting outside their mandate and the law to remove a legitimately licensed
physician from practice (see Maryland Legislature Report November 2011
concerning the Board’s illicit activities). A Harford County Circuit Court Judge
questioned the Board’s activities in this case and found for this writer
reversing the revocation. The Board’s last minute appeal to the Appellate
division is one of the most interesting aspects of this case.
Court of Special Appeals’ judges work as a
triad that is in groups of three. Legal briefs are submitted by both sides in
regards to a deficit in the findings of a lower Court perceived by either party.
New information is not supposed to be entered except for clarification purposes.
In this case the Board was the entity who was appealing the opinion of the
lower court. The Lawyers representing the Board from the Attorney General’s
Office deliberately obfuscated the evidence they presented, in two telephone size
volumes. Designed to confuse the most initiated
mind in the law, the Board was successful in that regard. Earlier reference to
three physician mode of review established by law in 2003 was completely
abrogated by the triad. Instead they legislated from the bench allowing only
one reviewer’s word to be sufficient to establish a basis for a medical license
revocation. Precedent also established in this case allows any physician to represent
themselves as a specialist even if they have only read an article on the subject
they are to testify, as did Dr. Ira Kaplan. Worse, the court disregarded dozens
of exculpatory items to give the board a win with an opinion so biased that
Stalin would be smiling. The author now faces a mandate from this court to
relinquish his licensed that is based on nebulous facts from a rogue board run
end to end by attorneys. Physicians in Maryland must face a completely corrupt
review process and in the end spend themselves into oblivion to defend charges before
a Court system that is extremely biased against them. This case is not unique,
yet its stench permeates the very halls where it originated. Physicians in the
named university hospitals get a pass by the Board when the tides turn against
them. It will be interesting to follow the medical board’s actions against the
physicians who were hammered in two recent malpractice cases found for the plaintiffs,
one payout is potentially for more than fifty million. The Maryland Legislature
must become involved in the Board of Physician’s processes because this
administrative entity is being used to silence physicians who are outspoken and
not on the politically correct side of the argument. Mark Davis MD, President
of Healthnets Review Services. Look for the national media to follow concerning
this case.
