Tag: advocacy
-
The New Department of Justice Initiative: Aggressively Investigating and Prosecuting Opioid-Related Cases
Before joining Burr & Forman, LLP, I was a federal prosecutor for a little over a decade specializing in health care fraud and general white collar matters. In that role, I was the member of a prosecution team that secured guilty verdicts earlier this year against two pain management doctors in Mobile, Ala., following a…
-
Organized Medicine: Why Physician Membership is More Important Now than Ever Before.
“There’s strength in numbers” is a saying we all know well. Whereas one person can say something, it becomes a much more powerful display when more people join together in support or protest. In the past, it was not unusual for physicians to be members of their county medical society, specialty society, state medical association,…
-
Three Simple Steps for Increasing Medicine’s Influence
From the outside looking in, the political process likely seems as inviting as a shark tank, as navigable as a corn maze, as predictable as the Kentucky Derby. Intimidating, confusing and frustrating are often used by citizens to describe advocacy-related interactions with government and frankly, this isn’t surprising given most citizens’ level of understanding of…
-
House of Delegates Pass Policy Opposing Further Imposition of MOC
During Annual Session, the Medical Association’s House of Delegates passed a resolution formally opposing additional Maintenance of Certification requirements as dictated by the American Board of Medical Specialties and the American Osteopathic Association. While it was agreed that the need for continuing medical education to improve the quality of care, the expense and clinically irrelevant…
-
Florida’s Physician “Gun Gag” Overturned on Appeal
The full panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit struck down the Florida law restricting physicians from speaking to patients and families about the risks of guns in the home. The case, Wollschlaeger v. Scott, was filed on June 6, 2011, challenged the Florida law, which could censor, fine and revoke…
-
Injured? Dial 1-800-4-MED-MAL
Legislation Threatens Decades of Medical Tort Reforms If 1-800-4-MED-MAL sounds like a personal injury firm advertisement, think again. But if proponents of a radical new alternative medical liability system get their way, 1-800-4-MED-MAL could be an avenue for turning every persistent migraine, bout of acute pain and post-operative bruise into cash payments. This radicalized approach…
-
Between Doctors & Patients…Technology in the Treatment Room
Editor’s Note: This article was originally published in the Spring 2016 issue of Alabama Medicine magazine Love them or hate them, electronic records are here to stay. Electronic health records, or EHRs, are an evolution of the electronic medical records, or EMRs, that some medical practices use internally. EMRs are a digital version of the…
-
Official Statement on Legalization of Non-FDA Approved Marijuana Substances
March 18, 2016 – “The use of marijuana for the treatment of various symptoms of diseases is an evolving discussion in this state and nation. Two years ago, the Alabama Legislature wisely decided and the Medical Association supported putting the discussion surrounding the efficacy of cannabidiol (CBD) in the treatment of neurologic conditions in children…
-
Physician Groups Issue Joint Statement on Medicaid Funding Cuts
April 8, 2016 | MONTGOMERY – Without Fully Funding Medicaid, Patient Care at Risk With the passing of the General Fund budget, lawmakers appropriated $700 million for Medicaid next year, $85 million short of what is needed to fully fund Medicaid. Now the Medicaid Agency is left with the tough decisions of which programs to…
-
Official Statement on the Medicaid Funding Crisis
May 5, 2016 – Alabama’s physicians are urging our state lawmakers and Gov. Bentley to start now to find a permanent revenue solution to fully fund Alabama Medicaid before the next fiscal year. “Alabama already runs the most bare-bones Medicaid program in the country,” said Medical Association Executive Director Mark Jackson, “so to end this…