Maryland Board of Physicians' illicit activities

Maryland Board of Physicians’ illicit use of authority

Maryland Board of Physicians no longer functions under the canopy of Maryland Law. Legislative mandates have very little meaning to those who believe they are beyond reproach. Maryland Legislature’s recent audit of this administrative entity, confirmed what many of us already knew, that it either cherry picks which laws to follow or ignores them completely. Maryland Board of Physicians was reconstituted in 2003 increasing its membership to 21 from 15. Presently 40% of those who serve on this entity are not physicians, diluting its expertise significantly. In an attempt to fill the void, the Maryland Attorney General’s Office imbued its authority throughout the Board’s structure, providing misleading and misguided counsel to this diminished entity. Maryland Board of Physicians failure to promulgate rules and regulations concerning physician practice is a point of contention for those who are forced to come before it. More egregious, this failure impedes physicians from certain due process rights provided to them by the Maryland Legislature. When confronted with these concerns, lawyers from the Attorney General’s Office dance around the issue, always ready with a judge in their back pocket to resolve the problem in their favor. In 2003 the Maryland legislature mandated that TWO physicians must agree that a doctor under review has deviated from the standard of care before a charge against him/her can be drawn. In the event they are in disagreement a third physician must be brought in to reconcile review process.  Eight years after this mandate was written, it still has not been implemented. Maryland Board of Physicians is now permitted to revoke a physician’s license based on the word of one medical doctor, who does not need to be in the specific field of the person being reviewed. The Board was able to get around this mandate because of their friends in the Appellate courts who rubberstamp whatever they bring before it. Mark Davis, MD faces revocation of his medical license because of the medical board’s illicit activities and the latter scenario presented. How many other physicians have been exposed to the Maryland Board of Medicines willy-nilly approach to the law is uncertain. This board Mark should be disbanded and those who stepped outside specific legislative mandates  prosecuted.  Davis, MD president of Healthnets Review Services, platomd@gmail.com, www.markdavismd.com