Texas Medical Board vs. Autism

Misdirection is always the tool of those who wish to deceive the public. Appearances only go so far, but behind the mirage is the truth standing firm but hidden from plain sight. I recently had the pleasure of attending a legislative committee meeting where there would be a discussion of HB 3816 the HEALTH FREEDOM INITIATIVE. I had never before attended a committee hearing or been involved in the legislative process, but I was compelled to go after participating in a radio show where I met general counsel for the Physician and Surgeon Association. I called in to the show to state the concern that I believed that we were in danger of losing the providers who treated my two children with Autism Spectrum Disorder after bogus complaints had been filed anonymously with the Texas Medical Board. When asked to respond to my concerns he made the statement that, “The Texas Medical Board was the most corrupt medical board in the United States of America”. I was shocked to hear this and began to research in the DFW area and found five other physicians all who served the Autism community and found that all five had a complaint filed against them in the last year and most within six months. Now I was mad. Is this the same Medical community that has continually failed my two children? Most doctors seemed to look at my wife and I like we were crazy when we would humbly ask about treatments for Autism. They would look at us with a blank stare and tell us that Autism is an incurable condition? I usually reply, well so is cancer but we treat it! The medical community has failed our kids and now the Texas Medical Board is persecuting the few providers that are willing to treat the symptoms that go with having Autism?

This information alone was enough to get me in my car and heading to Austin to hear for myself what the Legislators and Texas Medical Board had to say. When I got to the committee room I quickly discovered that I was not the only citizen that had been angry and concerned enough to show up testify in support for reforming the Texas Medical Board’s, shroud of secrecy. In fact the room was packed with supporters for the bill. I met many patients and their families most of them had the diagnosis of Autism, but all of them fit into the chronic incurable disease category; lymes, fibromyalgia, chronic fatigue, cancer, etc. I also met a fair amount of physicians who had been wrongfully accused and had spent thousands defending themselves against what usually turned out to be a complaint filed by a competitor or insurance company. They told me of many sleepless nights worrying if there license would be taken away. I heard first hand from this group exactly what I had feared, that persecuted Doctors often would leave the state or shut down all together under the weight of these investigative hearings. The Texas Medical Board stated several times under oath that they believed that they were fair and operating as provided by law and that they had fixed all issues pertaining to the outrages. The executive director of the medical board (a lawyer) spouted statics and solutions that had been put in place and mentioned several times how much they had improved on speeding up the process to receive your medical license, the wait is less than six months. Ironically only two days before I had met a Doctor who had been waiting for over a year to be reinstated. The anger, frustration, and disbelief in the committee room just kept growing and growing as we all listened to account, after ridiculous account, of the kangaroo court proceedings that a physician has to go through all the while never know who exactly is accusing them. Two parents testified that their children’s names and medical files had been used to file claims against physicians they loved and had how many gains their children made that other physicians said they would never make.

This legislative session is filled with many great bills that have to do with the diagnosis of Autism and other special care issues, but I now know that it is very possible to affect change on the system, to improve insurance coverage or vouchers, and yet when parents of children with Autism begin to look for medical providers they could very well be gone unless the Texas Medical Board is reformed. My testimony to the committee focused on the fallout and back lash that I believe is imminent if the Texas Medical Board is not reformed.

If You Would Like to Take Action:
Committee Testamony Video: Watch it for Yourself: http://www.house.state.tx.us/committees/broadcasts.php?session=81&committeeCode=410
Go To: 04/14/091:07 p.m. - 12:38 a.m.
 Visit the Texans for Patients' and Physicians' Rights website, www.txppr.com, and read H.B. 3816 and its summary.
 Contact Rep. Lois Kolkhurst of Brenham, chairwomen of the House Public Health Committee, as well as the other members of that committee, and ask them to support H.B. 3816. (512) 463-0600. House Committee on Public Health (C410e) Link & Email Addresses
o http://www.legis.state.tx.us/Committees/MembershipCmte.aspx?LegSess=81R&CmteCode=C410
o Lois.kolkhorst@house.state.tx.us. Elliott.naishtat@house.state.tx.us, Garnet.coleman@house.state.tx.us, John.davis@house.state.tx.us, Veronica.gonzales@house.state.tx.us, Chuck.hopson@house.state.tx.us, Susan.king@house.state.tx.us, Jodie.laubenberg@house.state.tx.us, Jim.mcreynolds@house.state.tx.us, Vicki.truitt@house.state.tx.us, john.zerwas@house.state.tx.us

 Contact your State Representative both by phone and e-mail and ask him to cosponsor H.B. 3816. The contact information for your state representative can be found online at http://www.house.state.tx.us/resources/faq.htm#who_rep.
 We need your help to make sure that House Bill 3816 stays on the Calendar to be read so that it will be voted on.