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It is darkly comical that governmental bodies at every level in this country cry out against bullying and violence in our culture because in this country, that many citizens here mistake as free and just, ALL governmental bodies bully us on a daily basis. Every day our governmental bodies perpetrate and condone violence against us and the rest of the world. This is my story about the State of Oregon and the Oregon Medical Board (OMB) and how they are disregarding our civil rights. It describes in detail the level of abuse and bullying the OMB and Assistant Attorney General Warren Foote are willing to go to destroy people and physicians in this state, especially in regards to medical cannabis. This story describes the criminal behavior that they resort to and the nonexistence of oversight there is over these bullies. The OMB and Asst. Attorney General Warren Foote are more brutal than the recent attackers of the 13 year old boy in Philadelphia. The OMB’s brutality is both psychological and financial. Also, it lasts a lot longer than 20 minutes and affects not just myself, but patients, my family and those dependent upon me financially. First some important and extremely relevant definitions.
(If you choose to skip the details at this time you may go to Conclusions at the end of this report.)
Bullying is a form of abuse. It involves repeated acts over time attempting to create or enforce one person’s (or group’s) power over another person (or group), thus an “imbalance of power”.[2] The “imbalance of power” may be social power and/or physical power. The victim of bullying is sometimes referred to as a target. Bullying types of behavior are often rooted in a would-be bully’s inability to empathize with those whom he or she would target.
Bullying consists of three basic types of abuse – emotional, verbal and physical. It typically involves subtle methods of coercion such as psychological manipulation. Bullying can be defined in many different ways. Although the UK currently has no legal definition of bullying,[3] some US states have laws against it.[4]
Bullying ranges from simple one on one bullying to more complex bullying in which the bully may have one or more ‘lieutenants’ who may seem to be willing to assist the primary bully in his bullying activities. Bullying in school and the workplace is also referred to as peer abuse.[5] Robert W. Fuller has analyzed bullying in the context of rankism.
Rankism is a term coined by physicist, educator, and citizen diplomat Robert W. Fuller. Fuller has defined rankism as: “abusive, discriminatory, or exploitative behavior towards people because of their rank in a particular hierarchy”[1]. Fuller claims that rankism also describes the abuse of the power inherent in superior rank, with the view that rank-based abuse underlies many other phenomena such as bullying, racism, sexism, and homophobia.
Fuller asserts that rankism involves:
* exploiting one’s position within a hierarchy to secure unwarranted advantages and benefits, without regard to the deprivation of people deemed to be inferior;
* illegitimate use of rank (e.g., abusive parent or priest, corrupt CEO, bully boss, prisoner abuse, etc.);
* treating rank as a shield that permits one person to insult or humiliate others with impunity;
* using rank to perpetuate position long after it can be justified while quashing talented people who might challenge that position;
* exporting rank achieved in one sphere of activity to claim superior importance as a person;
* use of rank illegitimately acquired or held (as in situations resting on specious distinctions of social rank such as racism, sexism, etc.).
Fuller has also theorized that:
* victims of rankists may find themselves publicly humiliated or ignored and treated as invisible;
* rankism can occur in any social hierarchy, such as governments, corporations, families, non-profit organizations, and universities;[2].
* the opponents of rankism believe that position and power should be used to serve the group over which one holds authority.
Definitions
Bullying is an act of repeated aggressive behavior in order to intentionally hurt another person, physically or mentally. Bullying is characterized by an individual behaving in a certain way to gain power over another person.[8]
Norwegian researcher Dan Olweus defines bullying as when a person is “exposed, repeatedly and over time, to negative actions on the part of one or more other persons.” He defines negative action as “when a person intentionally inflicts injury or discomfort upon another person, through physical contact, through words or in other ways”.[9]
In the act of bullying the bully attempts to make a public statement to the effect of: ‘See me and fear me, I am so powerful that I have the ability to inflict pain upon the intended target at the time and manner of my choice without having to pay any consequences.’
The above definitions are necessary to understand the Oregon Medical Board (OMB) and Assistant Attorney General Warren Foote and what they have been up to the past three years regarding my case. The above definitions fit them like a tailor made glove. Individuals directly involved in this bullying/rankism on the OMB are Dr. Parshley, who was Medical Director until he retired in June 2010, Dr. Peck, the new Medical Director, Dr. Yates, Dr. LeClair, Dr. Kirkpatrick, Dr. Calvert and Assistant Attorney General Warren Foote. The rest of the OMB members are indirectly involved because they have had the opportunity to right this wrong. Ms. Kathleen Halsey, a lawyer for the OMB, is also involved.
On 1/4/08 I saw Patient A through the nonprofit group Voter Power’s clinic. Patient A came in that day wanting a signature on a state form that would allow him to be involved with the Oregon Medical Marijuana Program (OMMP). He stated he had had severe gout for 10 plus years. He brought in two pages of documentation from an Urgent Care that stated he had had two episodes of joint inflammation. There was no work up, treatment, or follow up arranged other than the patient was prescribed Indomethicin. Those two Urgent Care records have never been seen since that day and my personal belief is they were fabricated. X-rays of three different joints of his body were ordered. The patient chose these joints because they had supposedly been inflamed numerous times over the past 10 plus years. The x-rays showed no changes consistent with gout, not even minor changes. For someone who had had supposedly “severe recurrent gout recalcitrant to treatment” (the OMB’s words) there should be significant radiologic changes in Patient A’s joints. Look on the internet to see pictures and x-rays of what chronic gout should look like after 10 plus years of significant disease. It’s typically horrific looking. Even without x-rays you should clinically be able to see significant deformities in the joints and Patient A had none.
Patient A was told that he did not qualify for my signature on the Physician Statement for OMMP at that time because he needed further evaluation and treatment of whatever medical process may be occurring. Patient A was told that day that he needed a thorough evaluation to determine actually what process was occurring. Patient A was told that multiple medical problems could be the cause of his symptoms such as osteoarthritis, gout, pseudogout, etc. Patient A was informed that if gout was confirmed as his medical problem that there were treatments available that basically “cured” this disease. Patient A asked what kind of treatment was available. The patient was told that there were multiple medications available and that a thorough workup would determine the medication used. Patient A was told one medication was Allopurinol. The patient stated that he was allergic to it, yet he had no documentation to confirm he had been given a prescription for this medication or had a reaction to it, let alone a pharmacy to call and confirm that Patient A had even had the medication filled in the past. Patient A was given his money back that day by Voter Power. He then went on to cause a severe disruption at the clinic screaming and yelling. When he left he took the two documents he had brought in, Voter Power’s paperwork and another patient’s records. That was the last I ever saw or heard from Patient A.
Patient A subsequently went to Dr. X in Medford. Dr X signed the Physician Statement for Patient A using the diagnosis of gout as the patient’s qualifier for the OMMP. No work up or evaluation had been done at that point by another physician nor was one done by Dr. X to confirm Patient A’s medical problem. No evaluation, treatment or follow up were offered by Dr. X regarding the gout he diagnosed. Dr. X did take the time to help Patient A file a complaint with the OMB regarding me. Dr. X and I have never met, but I am quite aware of his hatred of Voter Power or anyone else helping patients regarding the OMMP in his neck of the woods. I always assumed this was secondary to financial reasons; he didn’t want anyone on his turf. I did read the letters he sent to Voter Power, OMB and me. His letters were over the top with his anger, false accusations and threats. One letter I read was a complaint about me to the OMB. They responded stating they could do nothing unless he could find a patient to initiate the complaint.
Many patients that came to Voter Power’s clinic were refugees from Dr. X’s clinic. They basically described a disturbed individual that was all consumed with money. He required quarterly follow ups of the OMMP patients. If they couldn’t make it in then all they had to do was send a check. Many of them described a physician who walked into the exam room with white powder on his nose. A woman who worked for Dr. X for 2 ½ years witnessed him using cocaine at and away from his office. She would have to tell him to wipe the cocaine powder from his nose before going into exam rooms. He offered her cocaine. She filed a complaint to the OMB last year about these and other of Dr. X’s behaviors. When she was called by the investigator from the OMB the first questions she was asked was about her ties to Dr. Dover. She gave the investigator the name and phone number of two other individuals who had witnessed Dr. George using cocaine. She stated she was willing to take a lie detector test. She eventually received a letter from the OMB stating her complaint was too late and there was nothing further they could do. Why would the OMB blow off an extreme concern like this? They are the responsible party concerning physicians and patient safety. Why would they want to tie the complaint to me?
On 2/8/10 I received a letter from the OMB regarding Patient A’s complaint. I was accused of refusing to look at his chart notes, not signing the Physician Statement for the OMMP, telling the patient to take a medication they were allergic to, x-raying the patient’s wrong foot and mixing up their records with another patient’s records. As noted above, the patient brought in two Urgent Care records that have never been seen or produced since. Patient A was given a chance to produce further records but didn’t or couldn’t. Patient A was not told to take any medication nor was one prescribed by me. I was only at the Voter Power clinic to evaluate patients for whether they qualified for a signature on a State form that stated nothing more than that cannabis may be effective for their disease process. No medical treatment was ever given at the clinic. Patient A’s right foot, knee and elbow were x-rayed as requested by the patient. Patient A wanted to prove how severe their proclaimed problem of gout was. Nothing was seen on the films consistent with even a mild history of gout let alone a history as long and severe as Patient A had outlined. As was found out two years later, when a paucity of records were finally received from Asst. Attorney General Warren Foote, Patient A had never complained of any problems or pain with his left foot, only his right foot. It only makes sense that the correct foot was x-rayed on 1/4/08. Of note, the records also showed no previous complaints of right elbow or knee problems. Regarding the supposed records mix up, this was a mistake made by the Voter Power staff during and because of the commotion Patient A caused. Patient A and the OMB caused all these problems just because Patient A was asked to go back to their physician for further evaluation and treatment. This was done to help the patient because I didn’t (and still don’t) know what the cause of his right foot pain was due to. That’s what good medical care is all about, something the OMB either doesn’t understand and/or care about.
The letter from the OMB sent 2/8/08 was mailed to Voter Power instead of my own office. The OMB sent a confidential letter to an address that was not mine. They had had my office address on file for 6 years at that time. That address would have been the only one they would have had on file for me. The letter was opened by volunteers. The OMB broke my confidentiality along with patient A’s. I called Mr. Gary Drum, a detective at the OMB, to report to him the mistake he’d made.
After receiving the 2/8/08 OMB letter, I twice requested any available records. My requests went completely ignored. I answered their letter without any records and only from what I could remember from a month earlier.
In June of 2008 a second confidential letter was sent by Det. Gary Drum to me. Again, this letter was mailed to Voter Power. Again, Patient A’s and my confidentiality were broken. Again, the letter was opened by volunteers. The first time this occurred Mr. Drum was called on the phone. The second time I sent him a letter dated 7/1/08. This still didn’t solve the problem because a third confidential letter for me was sent to Voter Power. I get bullied by the OMB for Voter Power staff possibly mixing up the records of Patient A, yet the OMB can break my confidentiality as often as they like and no one cares, not the OMB, the governor or the State Attorney General. Instead I get a letter from the Governor’s office that states that the OMB blamed me for not keeping their office up to date with my office address. Yet on 1/1/08 I was mailed my new medical license from the OMB to my office address as they had done every 2 years for the past six years. On that license is my office address and the date it was to take effect 1/1/08. The OMB didn’t mail the license to Voter Power nor did the license have Voter Power’s address on it. Yet one month later I’m having confidential material mailed to a non profit’s office.
The OMB sent a letter 9/5/08 requesting five charts from the Voter Power clinic for them to review. Of tne five chart sent one patient had HIV and Hep C, two had Multiple Sclerosis (MS), one had three failed low back surgeries with chronic pain and the last patient had Stage 4 (end stage) colon cancer. All of them had extensive documentation
of their disease processes and had either already been in the program or were already using cannabis medically.
A letter requesting my presence for interrogation by the Investigative Committee was sent 4/2/09. My lawyer sent requests for records on four separate occasions. These requests were ignored in general. No records were received prior to the interrogation. One letter was sent by the OMB to my lawyer stating the records would be sent. They never followed through and ignored subsequent requests for the records. This cost money each time my lawyer had to make these requests and read letters sent back from the OMB. This is just one of the many ways they bully you via rankism. They know they can get away with it because they always have.
At the interrogation I sat with my lawyer as I was accused of all kinds of things. I was accused of telling Patient A to get a handgun and how he could get a concealed weapon permit. I didn’t and don’t have a concealed weapon permit and to this day still have no idea of how to get one. They stated that people at Voter Power openly used medical cannabis which was completely untrue. Supposedly Dr. Leveque was working behind the scene – to this day I have never seen nor met the man. Comments were made about the people at the clinic and how they dress. The OMB interrogators were indignant as they sat there in judgment. The primary interrogators were Dr. Yates, Dr. Calvert, Dr. LeClaire, Dr. Kirkpatrick and Mr. Warren Foote. The accusations were endless.
The OMB members looked at computer screens with the supposed medical records of Patient A. My lawyer again asked multiple times for access to these documents, but again his requests went literally unacknowledged, like he hadn’t even asked for them. If you look at the minutes from the interrogation you can read the confusion of the OMB. They had no idea of what was occurring with my case and no idea of how the OMMP or the state laws associated with it worked. They had no idea I had a lawyer coming. I was not allowed to explain myself and was interrupted 90% of the time. You should read the transcripts or better yet listen to the tape. It is truly pathetic and just another example of bullying by the OMB and Mr. Warren Foote.
After the interrogation a letter was sent from the OMB stating that a hearing would occur. I was charged with not signing Patient A’s Physician Statement for the OMMP, failing to recognize that Patient A had “severe long term gout recalcitrant to treatment”, telling the patient to take a medication he was allergic to, ordering an x-ray of the patient’s wrong foot, not conducting a physical exam of any sort, refusing to review the patient’s records and mixing up Patient A’s records with another patient’s. Of the additional five charts from Voter Power that were reviewed, I was accused of reviewing one of the charts incorrectly. Supposedly one of the patients didn’t have Multiple Sclerosis per Dr. Calvert’s and the OMB’s review. That surprised me considering that she had 2 plus inches of chart notes all of which documented that she had MS including specialist visits and radiological studies. I was also accused of filling out the forms for the State OMMP in a trite fashion and not thoroughly evaluating the use of cannabis in relationship to other patient co-morbidities.
In mid November of 2009 I was sent a letter by the OMB that requested that I go to a program in Colorado for 10 plus days for a thorough evaluation of my clinical knowledge. I was given 30 days to register for this program. All costs associated with this program and income lost fell upon me. At this juncture I had still not received even one document related to the case. I wrote a letter to the OMB stating that I refused to go to a program when I couldn’t see and evaluate any of the evidence that the OMB had regarding Patient A and their charges against me. After the deadline for applying to the program had passed, I then received an envelope from Assistant Attorney General Warren Foote on December 23rd, 2009. It contained seven pages of medical records pertaining to Patient A. It took two years, multiple letters and verbal requests from my lawyer and me and increased legal costs to me to get a hold of seven pages of medical records for Patient A that I had never seen. The two Urgent Care records that the patient originally brought in were not part of the packet and were never seen again. I feel certain these “Urgent Care records” were fabricated. I might as well be living in a place like China or North Korea the way the OMB, the State of Oregon and Warren Foote operate.
A hearing was then scheduled to take away my privilege to practice medicine in the State of Oregon. At this point the OMB had legally labeled me as being a “grossly negligent physician” for two years. Why would they let a “grossly negligent physician” practice? They have the ability to pull a physician’s license immediately if they like. Doesn’t that make the OMB and Asst. Attorney General Warren Foote grossly negligent?
At that point my attorney, Paul Loney, asked for additional information related to the case. This would be for items such as labs, specialist reports, pharmacy records, etc regarding Patient A. What we received from Assistant Attorney General Warren Foote was the middle finger. He stated bluntly and plainly in a responding letter that he and the OMB would in no way help out with the investigation and that they had no obligation to provide any of this information.
The hearing was in September of 2010. The day before the hearing Warren Foote faxed 2 pages of medical records to my lawyer. They were lab results that we had requested for months. Patient A had stated in the past that he had handed me 1 ½ inches of chart notes the day he saw me and that I refused to look at them. First, that would be extremely uncharacteristic of me to do. Second, where are these records because nine pages is nowhere close to 1 ½ inches.
The hearing was for two consecutive days. The hearing was supposedly closed, but the Medical Board had a whole array of people there who had nothing to do with my case. They came and went as they pleased. One individual approached me in the restroom at a break and started engaging me about the case. His name was Lanny. He was never involved in my case. Why was he there, let alone talking to me directly and asking me questions about my case. The OMB and Assistant Attorney General Warren Foote have been anything but professional throughout the past three years.
During the hearing Assistant Attorney General Warren Foote on 3 separate occasions announced to the Administrative Law Judge (ALJ) Barbar that he and the OMB could use hearsay during the hearings. HEARSAY!! Again, I might as well live in China or North Korea. What Oregon has is an “injustice system” that Governor Kulongowski and State Attorney General John Kroger have completely ignored up to this point. Now I’m going to give Kitzhaber a swing at it. I have been utterly surprised to see the hillbilly governmental/justice system we have in Oregon.
During the hearing the OMB and Warren Foote presented Dr. Calvert as an expert witness. He hails from Klamath Falls Oregon and is a Family Physician there with ties to OHSU’s Medical School Program. He supposedly was an expert in reviewing charts. Dr. Calvert and the OMB Investigative Committee accused me of incorrectly reviewing one of the five charts they had requested from Voter Power. For three years I was told that this patient didn’t really have MS (as discussed above). After I took the witness stand and told my story they must have went back and checked the records, because before closing arguments, Mr. Warren Foote had to admit that I did review the chart correctly and that the patient did have MS. Now why aren’t Dr. Calvert and others on the OMB in trouble for doing such a poor review of the charts? Rankism that’s why. The ALJ Barbar doesn’t even put any of this into his report of the hearing! For three years I put up with false accusations and not one word from the ALJ. Pathetic.
Dr. Calvert was also put forth as an expert in gout by the OMB and Mr. Warren Foote. During the hearing Dr. Calvert gave an extremely pathetic overview of gout. When he was asked more pointed questions it became obvious he had a very cursory understanding of the evaluation and treatment of gout. When he was presented with the evaluations and treatments recommended by the “Bibles” of Internal Medicine such as Harrisons or Cecils and websites such as the University of Boston or Rheumatology sites he stated that they were incorrect in regards to the medical evaluation and treatment of gout and he, a Family Physician out of Klamath Falls, was correct. Can you believe the ego of Dr. Calvert, Mr. Warren Foote and the rest of the OMB? The world’s most respected rheumatologists are wrong even though they do the research and keep up to date on others research worldwide regarding gout.
Then, being the expert in gout that Dr. Calvert is, he surprised me with the fact that he had never heard nor was he aware of the first new treatment for gout in 40 years called Uloric. Uloric had been on the market for 1 ½ years at the time we had the hearing. It was already on TV commercials. I had had 2 hours of CME on the product and gout. Patients asked me about it. And Dr. Calvert knew nothing of this medicine? Dr. Calvert disagrees with world authorities regarding the evaluation and treatment of gout? The audacity of Dr. Calvert and the OMB! Is Dr. Calvert really allowed to teach in the OHSU System? And again, the ALJ puts nothing in his report of Dr. Calvert’s lack of knowledge about gout. The tape of the hearing reveals it all.
Welcome to the “Injustice System“of the supposedly liberal State of Oregon. A state where your Democratic Governors and Attorney Generals don’t give a damn about what their State Medical Board does, how it has persecuted and blacklisted many physicians for years or how it is now trampling Oregonian’s civil rights. All I can assume (and as I’ve seen over 15 years in this State) is that all our Boards, Commissions and Courts are corrupt and led by incompetent criminals called politicians.
Patient A was also put on the stand. Under oath he stated that he had given me 1 ½ “ of paper records to review and that I refused to look at them. He stated that he was a “fastidious record keeper”. Paul Loney held up the nine pages of records we finally received and asked where the other records were at. Patient A pointed to a briefcase. When Patient A was asked to present them Patient A sheepishly responded and slowly removed two groups of paper, each paper clipped. Damn if these weren’t the same 9 pages we already had except now with two more sets. Paul Loney held up these three sets of 9 identical pages and asked where the other records were. No response from Patient A. No requirement for Patient A to produce these records. No concerns about Patient A committing perjury under oath. Once again, no mention of these concerns in the ALJ’s report. Remember, the OMB and Mr. Warren Foote can use hearsay and their witnesses can commit perjury.
It says a lot about the people in your government if they are allowed to and are willing to use hearsay in court. Detective Gary Drum used hearsay on the witness stand regarding Patient B whose records were supposedly mixed up with Patient A’s. Why would Mr. Drum speak for Patient B? Why couldn’t Patient B speak for themselves? The reason is the OMB had to make something up to help make the case stick, just like they had to ignore the cocaine complaint against Dr. X. It didn’t help their case.
Patient A was also questioned about their alcohol use. On paperwork from Dr. X’s office, Patient A had written personally that they drank 6 plus beers a day. Yet on the witness stand Patient A stated that they drank only 2, maybe up to 6 beers, a day. Personally, Patient A looked as if they drank a case of beer a day. Patient A looks like an alcoholic and probably is. What galls me the most though is the fact that the OMB and Dr. Calvert had a problem with a patient chart they reviewed from Voter Power where the patient had MS. The patient had used cocaine 20 years prior and had stopped all alcohol use secondary to the MS three years prior. The OMB had problems with me signing the Physician Statement for the MS patient because of their previous use of cocaine and alcohol, but no concerns for Patient A drinking “6 plus beers a day” at the time he received a signature on his OMMP Physician Statement. If Patient A really did have gout then beer is one of the worst things for him to drink. Just stopping the consumption of beer can resolve gout. What gives? Not only is hearsay allowed at these hearings but so is perjury obviously. And so is less than competent medical care in Oregon. Again, no mention of these “inconsistencies” in the ALJ’s report.
The ALJ did take the time to mention in his report that the woman at Voter Power who dealt with Patient A was “inconsistent” and “unconvincing” in regards to her telephone testimony at the hearing. All she did was tell her story of what happened that day. She discussed how Patient A was yelling and causing much commotion during their encounter. This occurred while she was trying to check the patient out of the clinic. She is also the woman who lodged the complaint with the OMB about Dr. X and his cocaine use that the OMB dismissed so nonchalantly.
The ALJ Barbar also took time to twice mention that I was being overly insistent about a physician’s name on the OMB. During the hearing I mentioned that one physician on the OMB’s Investigative Committee had recommended suspending the interrogation in 6/09 until I received the records (which they could have easily copied at the time). They asked his name and I stated that I thought it was St. Claire. I mumbled this a second time as those present tried to figure out themselves. It was soon found to be LeClaire. No big deal except to the ALJ. I asked Paul Loney, my lawyer, about this and he stated that what the ALJ wrote was nonsense regarding that event.
I was called a scofflaw by Mr. Foote during the hearing. This bullying was allowed by ALJ Barbar. I wasn’t allowed to call any one names. I was called a “grossly incompetent” physician for over 2 years by the OMB yet allowed to practice for all that time. Something is strange about that.
I sure felt warm inside when I watched ALJ Barbar and Assistant Attorney General Warren Foote walk into a private room alone after the hearing was over. Wonder what was discussed there? It’s unfortunate that the leaders of this state allow that kind of unethical behavior.
Conclusions
The Oregon Medical Board (OMB) and the State of Oregon allows and condones the use of hearsay in physician’s hearings. Physicians have no recourse to counter their actions because you and your legal council are not told in advance about this.
The OMB and Assistant Attorney General Warren Foote condone perjury if it meets their needs at the hearings. If you’re on the Medical Board’s “team” you can lie about how many records you have. You can write down how much beer you drink a day at a physician’s office and three years later change that amount on the witness stand. You can lie about your interaction with a physician with no proof to substantiate your claims. The physician can turn around and show without doubt that the patient is lying, but the OMB wants, sees, and hears none of that.
The OMB and Mr. Warren Foote can present physicians as experts that work for them even though they are obviously not. In my case they used a Family Physician, Dr. Calvert, out of Klamath Falls as an expert in rheumatology. He’s allowed by the OMB, Mr. Foote and ALJ Barbar to disagree with all major text books, rheumatologists and web sites regarding the accepted evaluation and treatment of gout. It’s okay for him as an “expert in gout” not to be aware of a medication, Uloric, that had been on the market for 1 ½ years at the time of the hearing and is the first new treatment for gout in 40 years. My God it’s advertised on TV!
The OMB and Warren Foote can use physicians who are “experts in chart review”, like Dr. Calvert, that are incapable of reviewing even straight forward charts. I was accused for 3 years of reviewing a chart incorrectly. There was extensive documentation of the patient’s illness, yet it wasn’t until just before closing arguments at my hearing that Mr. Foote acknowledged that my review of the records was correct and Dr. Calvert’s was wrong. No problem for Dr. Calvert and his ineptness – he works for the “OMB Team”! You can screw up and lie as much as you like working for the OMB and no repercussions, in fact that is what they really desire.
The OMB can withhold records from you and your attorney as long as they want. They can also tell you that records exist and never have to produce them. No matter how often you ask they either don’t respond and just ignore your existence or lie to you about sending them. Or, like Mr. Warren Foote, one of our esteemed State Assistant Attorney Generals, just send you a letter that states the OMB doesn’t have to give you any records or look into any situation that relates to your case that you request no matter how important. Mr. Warren Foote sent my lawyer and I a letter after a request for information that stated that he and the OMB had no obligation to provide any information that would help the case. Basically, Warren Foote said go to hell while he flipped us the finger. Why wouldn’t the government want to do a thorough investigation? Oh, that’s right, it would break a long history of half assed politicized work by inept bureacrats.
The OMB can make you go to any program they want for evaluating whatever they want at your cost and time away from your practice and family. They don’t have to give you any reason why they are sending you. They don’t have to give you any records to even back up what they accuse you of.
The OMB has no oversight. Governor Kulongkoski was contacted twice as was State Attorney General John Kroger. Neither took even the smallest amount of effort to look into the situation, both punting any responsibility away from themselves. The OMB can break your confidentiality, lie, use hearsay, conduct less than inadequate investigations, use imposters as experts, make any accusation they like, bully you, and the list goes on, without any repercussions.
It’s okay for the Administrative Law Judge (ALJ), Mr. Barbar to basically ignore all the facts and not mention anything in his report of the hearing regarding the OMB’s, Mr. Foote’s, Patient A’s and Dr. Calvert’s inconsistencies regarding testimony. It is okay in this state for the ALJ and the Assistant Attorney General to meet privately right after the two day hearing in a closed room. I stated over two years ago that what you’d see would be a witch hunt, a kangaroo court and a hanging. I was dead on. Also, didn’t expect much respect from ALJ Barbar for my family, patients, dependents or community. It’s obvious from looking at him he doesn’t even respect himself or his health.
It’s okay for the OMB to hold “closed hearings” that allow any of their employees, and who knows who else, to be present even though they have nothing to do with the case. They also allow these individuals to interact with you on breaks and say what they want or ask what they want of you with no repercussions. This occurred to me in the men’s restroom.
It’s okay for the OMB and Warren Foote to trample and circumvent Oregonian’s civil rights. They don’t care how many times the voters ratify the use of cannabis for medicine. They are going to co-opt your civil rights because they disagree with it. They persecute physicians that assist patients in obtaining a signature on a state form that states nothing more than that cannabis may be helpful for their medical condition. The OMB protects physicians and clinics that refuse to help these same patients. Patients involved with the Oregon Medical Marijuana Program (OMMP) are being abused by these physicians and institutions. They are being blacklisted making it difficult or impossible for patients once they are on this list to find a Primary Care Physician. They are being forced to sign contracts under duress. Some of these contracts allow the institution to turn the patient into the police if they test positive for medical cannabis. The OMB is trying to shut down your access to the OMMP. The Governor and State Attorney General are letting them get away with it.
It’s okay for the OMB to leave patients without a physician and medical care and follow up after they revoke a physician’s license. I have cancer patients, chronic pain patients, agoraphobics, a woman who is a quadriplegic, people without insurance that can’t afford to see physicians in the typical outrageously expensive medical system, and patients with neurological problems who wil be left without home visits and access to care.
In the Future
As a result of the OMB’s decision regarding my case, it seems physicians are responsible for any medically related problem that arises in any situation that you work in as a physician. As Dr. Calvert stated during my hearing “you are the Captain of the ship” and therefore responsible for everything that occurs related to your medical encounter with a patient. I was responsible for a nonprofits one time record keeping mistake. My relationship with the nonprofit was nothing more than working as an independent contractor. I had no other business or financial relationship with them. The patient records were theirs. If a physician does work for a clinic or institution, no matter what their relationship is to that business, the OMB says you are responsible for any problems that arise.
The OMB states that if a patient qualifies for a signature on the Physician Statement for the OMMP then you as a physician have to sign it. In my case the patient didn’t qualify at that point; further evaluation and intervention were needed. In the future we’ll make sure patient’s physicians sign the paperwork for the OMMP for those that qualify. If not we’ll see how consistent the OMB is with their decision. This will save patients lots of money and time and keep their confidentiality more intact. Medical clinics and institutions should not be allowed to interfere with this medical option for patients.
Physicians in this state should be very afraid of the OMB and their unbridled and unregulated powers. I would highly recommend that any physician not start a practice in this state. If you are already in practice in Oregon I recommend you get out before the bullies at the OMB have a chance to ruin your ability to practice medicine anywhere in the US.
Dr. Parshley, Dr.Yates. Dr. Calvert, Dr. Peck, Dr. LeClaire, Dr. Kirkpatrick, Mr. Warren Foote, Kathleen Halsey and the rest of the OMB are bullies and elitist government officials. They seem to be extremely ignorant of medical knowledge and like most government officials hope to slide by with the least amount of effort needed. They seem willing to pervert democratic laws at any time it suits their needs and cover-up and lie about anything they have done wrong.
I encourage any physicians or others that have been abused by the OMB and Mr. Warren Foote to come forward and share your story even if it’s anonymous. I can certainly understand why you might want to withhold your name.
I would be interested in any incriminating evidence or questionable behavior regarding the OMB in general or its individual members, including Mr. Warren Foote. You can contact me anonymously via the blog.
Please send complaints and letters of concern to the OMB, State Attorney General John Kroger and Governor Kitzhaber. Please see links and sample postcards.
If you have any complaints against physicians, in particular regarding medical cannabis, please contact me at the blog. If you don’t complain nothing will change except for the worse. It is time to take the battle to them.
Your ability to be involved with the OMMP is dwindling. The OMB is now investigating a physician that signed over half the forms for patients in this state. That is about 30,000 patients. Take this physician out of the equation and see what happens.
Voter Power is being targeted by the OMB. As a physician I would warn against working with them at this time.
If anyone is interested in any or all of the documents referred to above, I would be happy to email or fax them or post them on the website. I am happy to make any or all documents available including letters or documents sent by the OMB, Mr. Warren Foote, Governors Kulongkoski and Kitzhaber and State Attorney General John Kroger to my lawyers or me. Also, any documents or letters I sent to them and transcripts from the Investigative Committee interrogation or the September 2010 hearing.
Nothing changes until you stand up and fight and demand change!
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