Medical Board of California Whistleblower Sets the Bar for Decency

Victims and survivors of medical harm utilize their allotted three minutes to share emotionally charged, heartbreaking stories of surgical assaults, sexual misconduct, wrongful death, falsified medical records, and more. 

The meetings take place Thursday and Friday every four months on WebEx. Public comments are taken on topics not on the agenda and on each agenda item. 

Powerful doctors’ lobbies including the California Medical Association (CMA) and The Doctors Company run the show. The CMA opposed an increase in the annual licensing fee for physicians; MBC members claim they don’t have the budget to optimally run the board. The lobbyists spend millions to fight tort reform - this denies justice and prevention. The real reason medical costs increase is due to negligent medical care. 

One activist pointed out: “The number of people living in poverty related to medical errors/harm, the money spent on permanent disability related to medical harm, and the number of people who end up homeless related to medical harm is unknown. Due to lack of accountability, constructing a structure built on prevention is nearly impossible.” 

Presentation and discussion about pain relief

On February 10 there was a presentation about pain with a focus on opioid prescribing. There are concerns some doctors overprescribe as well as complaints by physicians that they cannot freely prescribe for fear they will be reprimanded for taking care of patients. The impact for the public may be punishing either way. People in intractable pain shared their experience; a caller talks about the suicide of her son who was denied pain relief. 

There were nearly 15,000 overdose deaths in 2017 tied to commonly prescribed opioids and many more are linked to an addiction that began with painkillers. On the other hand, 50 million adults in the US suffered from chronic and acute pain in 2016. It was discussed that strict legal limits on opioid prescribing will cause a lot of suffering among pain patients who won’t be able to get drugs they genuinely need. 

Strikingly absent was any mention of benefits of massage therapy in the MBC discussion about how the medical community might adequately treat pain. Although therapeutic massage is not a panacea, many massage recipients get better and / or retain vibrant health without the intervention of costly and risky surgeries. Massage makes it possible for some people to cut down on or stop medication. It’s 2022 and still massage therapy is ignored by the medical field rather than generously covered by health insurance. 

In the face of corruption, the status quo must be challenged

Some board members say they feel powerless to make changes. Their role has limits, they say. TJ Watkins, a public member who filed a Whistleblower lawsuit against the board in 2021 and lived under apartheid in South Africa says he refuses to accept these limits. We must do more to protect the public. Phone in callers often thank Mr. Watkins. 

There is a push by activists and now board members to have a public member majority on the MBC. The wording does not include “non-conflicted public members.” One member uses her position with the MBC, her schooling, and past employment to convey authority as a Women’s Health Advocate. This member put out an $800,000 documentary sponsored by a medical device company that portrays liposuction and breast implants in an anecdotal, short-term way as “transformative” without warnings of dangers and harm. 

Likewise, the board allows their experts to be called as expert witnesses against patient plaintiffs. The MBC affiliation confers authority to these witnesses in court that sways the jury against patient-victims. This is a contradiction of roles. The MBC hires a plastic surgeon that was part of the wave of popularizing extreme plastic surgery makeover as their expert. This doctor was excluded as a TRICARE Authorized Provider because he retained the beneficiary’s advance payment, despite being made aware on multiple occasions that his actions were contrary to Federal regulations. Why should Californians trust this physician when the Military Health Agency doesn’t? 

More about plastic surgery

There are many disturbing MBC cases re: doctors who do non-life saving plastic surgery. These doctors often layer on procedures and operate against consent, which is battery. They do cosmetic surgery on elderly patients with health problems, obesity, heart conditions, and diabetes. Healthy consumers suffer rib fractures; heart attacks, lidocaine poisoning, fat or blood clots in the lungs, bleed to death, or are mutilated, disabled, left in torturous pain, and more. The traumatic effects on communities are calamitous, but yet, MBC licenses doctors who put the lives of healthy and / or vulnerable people at risk. 

The Ford Pinto, the barbecue that seats four, had a defective fuel system that caused it to easily explode and burn in rear-end collisions. Ford's internal cost-benefit analysis, (which placed a $200,000 dollar value on each human life), sold cars for years knowing 100s of people would burn to death. Ford decided it was cheaper to let people burn. 

Liposuction, a billion-dollar industry, puts profit and power over health. Doctors and device companies make false claims. In 2011, a UC Denver study confirmed that weight redistribution and an increase in visceral fat showed up in 100% of the study participants. VF increases risk for cardio-vascular disease, type II diabetes, metabolic syndrome, cancer, Alzheimer’s and more. The medical community ignores this scientific data. 

Plastic surgeons say liposuction is safe when maximum volume amounts are not exceeded, however California’s aspirate-by-volume levels do not prevent death or harm. Much harm occurs in years following liposuction as the body struggles with losing part of an organ that plays a role in metabolism and affects every aspect of health. 

Presentation and discussion about implicit bias in the medical field

On February 11 there was a presentation about implicit bias in medicine. The presenter focused on bias based on race and income level. Some doctors believe that black people don’t feel pain in the same way as white people. This leads to negligent medical care and a greater percentage of medically harmed people of color. Public commentors added that implicit bias exists for victims of medical malpractice, anyone who needs pain medication, females, people who get plastic surgery for any reason, body type, BMI, etc. 

Medical harm to women

Medical harm affects everyone, yet a disproportionate amount of harm is to women. There are complaints of sexual and surgical assaults, and horrific violations during childbirth. These doctors take away a woman’s agency over her body. Women claim many doctors do not listen to what they say about their life, body, or children. 

It’s time to raise the bar for decency in the medical field

The MBC has focused on protecting doctors, not the public. The accused doctor can hire an attorney who may use notes full of lies and omissions, yet many victims can't even afford to live after medical harm, let alone get a lawyer or get their voice heard. The board is looking at adding victim statements to proceedings. Activists often address the problem of falsified records, but this concern has not been addressed yet. 

What can you do?

Follow my articles; learn about The Fairness Act, follow Consumer Watchdog, read 4patientsafety.org, and listen to Ralph Nader speak about medical malpractice. Support friends and family injured by doctors. Join the patient safety movement. 

(Sasha Lauren, author of The Paris Predicament, is a patient safety educator and Citywatch contributor. As a L.M.T. she gave over 30,000 sessions of therapeutic massage and taught massage, relaxation, and behavioral health skills. Her approach is holistic and preventative. The information presented in this article is not for personal medical or legal advice or instruction. Sasha writes for CityWatch.)