Dr. Arnold Feldman may be perplexed as to why House Health and Welfare Committee Chairman Rep. Frank Hoffman and other committee members have been unresponsive to his email inquiries, but I can give him 377,000 reasons, or in Hoffman’s individual case, 34,000 reasons.
Last April 10, the Senate voted 36-0, with three members absent, to approve Senate Bill 286, the so-called Physicians’ Bill of Rights.
But on May 2, Hoffman’s Committee, on the motion of Rep. Dustin Miller (D-Opelousas), involuntarily deferred the bill, thus killing it before it could reach the House floor.
Rep. J. Rogers Pope (R-Denham Springs) offered a motion that the committee move forward (meaning that the committee would vote to approve the bill) but when Miller made his substitute motion to involuntarily defer, there were no objections.
The BILL, by Sen. John Milkovich (D-Shreveport), would have provided a number of protections to physicians subjected to complaints to the Louisiana State Board of Medical Examiners.
That’s because the board of medical examiners, like the Louisiana State Board of Dentistry, has been shown to be autocratic and more than willing to abuse its broad investigative and regulatory powers to shakedown physicians of exorbitant fines for sometimes minor or even non-existent infractions.
Both the dentistry and medical examiners boards’ autocratic practices—Dr. Feldman recently received a letter from the medical examiners informing him of a fine of nearly half-a-million dollars—have been called into question by legislators.
Not only do the boards slap doctors and dentists with enormous fines—the sole source of income for both boards—but there also appears to be a less-known arrangement with the PHYSICIANS HEALTH FOUNDATION for the referral of penalized doctors to rehabilitation facilities at even more budget-busting costs to the physicians.
Meanwhile, Dr. Feldman is unable to get an answer from Hoffman or any other members whom he has contacted.
Last week, Feldman sent the following email to Hoffman (R-West Monroe):
From: Arnold Feldman MD
Sent: Thursday, March 14, 2019 8:23 AM
To: hoffmannf@legis.la.gov
Subject: Medical Board
Dear Representative Hoffman,
As you may recall I testified at a May 2 2018, Louisiana Health and welfare committee that you Chaired. My testimony was 100 percent accurate and truthful.
Despite this Senator Milkovich, who spoke truthfully had his bill involuntarily deferred, yet it passed the Senate almost unanimously.
I have written to you and other members multiple times but I have received no response.
What can be Done? The Medical Board is corrupt and operates as a racketeering enterprise. Responsibility for physician suicide was heard. The culprit Cecilia Mouton was demoted but given a 220,000 dollar job for no work. Action is necessary.
I deserve at least a response.
Justice delayed is Justice denied.
It’s really not difficult to understand the breakdown in communications—$377,000 has a way of doing that.
That’s how much Hoffman and the other 12 committee members received in campaign contributions from the medical community over the past five years.
Rep. Julie Stokes led the way with $84,000, but to be fair, she recently ran a campaign for Secretary of State, a statewide campaign in which the maximum allowable contributions was $5,000, twice that for legislative offices.
But Rep. Katrina Jackson (D-Monroe) had no statewide race but still raked in $70,000 from medical interests.
Others included, in order of amount received:
- Rep. Dodie Horton (R-Haughton): $43,600;
- Pope: $36,150;
- Hoffman: $34,000;
- Rep. Robert Johnson (D-Marksville): $22,350;
- Rep. Joseph Stagni (R-Kenner) and Rep. Miller: $17,500 each;
- Rep. Larry Bagley (R-Stonewall): $17,000;
- Rep. H. Bernard LeBas (D-Ville Platte): $15,400;
- Rep. Charles R. Chaney (R-Rayville): $12,600;
- Rep. Kenny R. Cox (D-Natchitoches): $5,000;
- Rep. Jerome “Dee” Richard (I-Thibodaux): $2,000.
So now maybe Dr. Feldman understands that $377,000 can buy a lot of silence.
But if you’re one of those ponying up some of that $377,000, it’s a good bet you’d get an immediate response to your inquiry. Can I get any takers on that bet?
I can almost hear the crickets chirping.
Louisiana Voice 
Why can’t the doctors as a group simply decide that they will no longer stand for how the current Board of Medical Examiners operates and make a total change. You say it can’t be done. Let me remind you, when the airlines tired of Trumps Federal Government shutdown, they as a group announced that they would no longer fly. Shutdown ended in less than 12 hours. Doctors say they will close their doors until a change is made will make that change happen in 2 hours. Try it.
If doctors were to “close their doors,” the blowback from the public would be far more intense—and severe—than from any regulatory board. There’s a big difference between refusing to provide transportation for the public and refusing to provide medical care.
The governor and the legislature have the power—and responsibility—to rein in these power-intoxicated boards.
To be fair, I believe Katrina Jackson has represented doctors against this board and had a competing bill she authored. She may be one of the good ones in regard to this issue. Hoffman, however, has been a shill for the dental board in introducing board-requested legislation in the past, including a bill to keep the board in NOLA.
Tom, I do think that I am beginning to suffer from “corruption overload!” However, I do think your dedication to exposing corruption in Louisiana is a vital and necessary part of our being informed and more pro-active citizens. I am going to demand that my State elected officials reign in both the dental and medical boards. Perhaps if there is a huge public outcry, they might listen. We can do no less. Thank you!
Well, this would be the place to ask them.