Medical scams Maryland style

Medical scams Maryland style

Maryland Board of Physicians is many things, but honesty and integrity eludes them. A munificent Maryland Legislative administrator released a copy of the recent audit of the Maryland Board of Physicians to my office. Imposed on this administrative authority is a clear set of laws, mandates and regulations to carry out its functions. According to the Legislative audit the Board of Physicians and its staff have a collective case of amnesia, they forgot these laws exist. The Board’s regulatory structure is designed to safeguard Maryland citizens and provide due process to the health practitioners targeted for review. The Maryland Board of Physicians has failed at both of these objectives. Worse, friends of the Board get special treatment when a suspicion is raised about the quality of their work. How many times have you seen a physician from John Hopkins or University of Maryland medical centers castigated by this Board? Hundreds of doctors in Maryland run trauma mills that bill tens of millions of dollars to insurance companies for quasi claims, where are their reviews? Perhaps you have read the promulgated set of rules the Board has generated to carry out its mandates established by the Maryland Legislature, they don’t exist. Maybe you have noticed that politically active physicians get a pass in Maryland when accused of an egregious event. Those of you who still have some analytic abilities may have perceived that the Maryland Board of Physicians hammers politically unpopular physicians, who do not fall in line with the agenda of the week. The politically appointed Maryland Secretary for Health was asleep in his expensive office when this audit was released. Once he woke up the excuse machine was turned on to offset his obvious failure of oversight. Sometimes illegalities cannot be swept under the proverbial rug and that is exactly what has happened. Maryland Attorney General’s Office has been the CHIEF  ENABLER of the illegalities that have infected the Maryland Board of Physicians. Those who need proof should look no further than the Legislative audit. Nearly all the legal work for the Maryland Board of Physicians is performed by the Attorney General’s Office. The two links are obvious.  Physicians who are targeted for review by the Maryland Board are in fact being condemned by a Maryland administrative agency that has worked outside its mandates and the law. Maryland Medical Society has not commented on this legislative audit. Their stance on any issue emanating from the Maryland Board of Physicians is usually dead silence. What about the Courts? Do not hold your breath. Perhaps sense and sensibility will emerges if the Legislature is allowed to play the last note. Mark Davis, M.D. President of Healthnets Review Services, platomd@gmail.com