There have been 2 cases.

The first case was the administrative procedure against me by the Board of Licensure in Medicine of Maine (BOLIM). It started with an illegal, immediate license suspension in January 2022, before I had a chance to say anything to the Board or defend myself. The allegations against me then were filed by 2 people who had never met me, did not know any of my patients, and alleged I was putting misinformation about COVID on the internet. Period. The allegations had nothing to do with my practice of medicine. They were only about my freedom of speech, or lack therof.

Then the BOLIM beat the bushes and got two other allegations against me for prescribing ivermectin in one case and hydroxychloroquine in another. Here is the statutory requirements for a license suspension as an emergency action, which was used against me.

• Emergency Action (32 M.R.S. §3286): The Maine Board of Licensure in Medicine must treat as an emergency any complaint alleging a licensee is, or may be, unable to practice with reasonable skill and safety to patients due to mental illness, substance use, or physical condition.

• Here is the statute:

  §3286. Emergency action

  Upon its own motion or upon complaint, the board, in the interests of public health, safety and welfare, shall treat as an emergency a complaint or allegation that an individual licensed under this chapter is or may be unable to practice medicine with reasonable skill and safety to patients by reason of mental illness, alcohol intemperance, excessive use of drugs, narcotics or as a result of a mental or physical condition interfering with the competent practice of medicine. In enforcing this paragraph, the board may compel a physician to submit to a mental or physical examination by a physician or another person designated by the board. Failure of a physician to submit to this examination when directed constitutes an admission of the allegations against the physician, unless the failure was due to circumstances beyond the physician’s control, upon which a final order of disciplinary action may be entered without the taking of testimony or presentation of evidence. A physician affected under this paragraph must, at reasonable intervals, be afforded an opportunity to demonstrate that the physician can resume the competent practice of medicine with reasonable skill and safety to patients. [PL 2013, c. 355, §13 (AMD).]

  For the purpose of this chapter, by practicing or by making and filing a biennial license to practice medicine in this State, every physician licensed under this chapter who accepts the privilege to practice medicine in this State is deemed to have given consent to a mental or physical examination when directed in writing by the board and to have waived all objections to the admissibility of the examiner’s testimony or examination reports on the grounds that the testimony or reports constitute a privileged communication. [PL 2013, c. 355, §14 (AMD).]

  Injunctions must issue immediately to enjoin the practice of medicine by an individual licensed to practice under this chapter when that individual’s continued practice will or may cause irreparable damage to the public health or safety prior to the time proceedings under this chapter could be instituted and completed. In a petition for injunction pursuant to this section, there must be set forth with particularity the facts that make it appear that irreparable damage to the public health or safety will or may occur prior to the time proceedings under this chapter could be instituted and completed. The petition must be filed in the name of the board on behalf of the State. [PL 1993, c. 600, Pt. A, §219 (AMD).]

  SECTION HISTORY

  PL 1971, c. 591, §1 (NEW). PL 1981, c. 594, §2 (AMD). PL 1993, c. 600, §A219 (AMD). PL 1997, c. 271, §11 (AMD). PL 2013, c. 355, §§13, 14 (AMD).

The hearing lasted nearly 8 days, and was spread out over about 11 months. Then, after the BOLIM voted unanimously against me and imposed harsh penalties, soemone realized their paperwork was not quite right, and I waited another 3 months to receive their final order.

That order essentially made it impossible for me to practice medicine in the state of Maine independently ever again. It required a payment of $10,000, attendance in 3 remedial courses so I could relearn how to practice medicine, required that I hire a practice monitor to oversee my practice of medicine, and required that I supply charts on my patients to the BOLIM for it to review periodically. In other words, the BOLIM would maintain its boot on my neck for the forseeable future, were I to seek to practice medicine again.

Obviously, these requirements were untenable to me. I was 70 at the time of the initial license suspension and just had my 75th birthday last week.

I appealed the BOLIM’s decision in state court. I also sued the BOLIM for a civil rights violation in federal court. In both these cases, the judges changed before the cases were completed. All papers had been filed and oral arguments were made in early January. We waited for the judge’s decision. Instead, Judge Jonathan Levy retired in May 2024 without having ruled. Judge David Mitchell took over the case.

He reviewed the paperwork and heard the oral arguments. My attorney did a very good job, the AAG did a less than spectacular job, and I felt confident our case had been well presented, despite the delays and the changing of the judge.

But much to my surprise, after a long delay, the judge made a very idiosyncratic ruling.

What he did was to absolutely ignore all the reliable testimony and insteady rely entirely on the part-time ER doctor, MedPage editor-in-chief, substacker and musical conductor Jeremy Faust, claiming that he was the COVID expert. This despite Dr. Faust having no special training in infectious diseases and only practicing medicine part-time.

Whose testimony did the judge entirely ignore in his ruling?

• 3 patients who were treated by me for COVID, and whose care was supposedly the reason I was on trial.

• My 4 expert witnesses: Drs. Pierre Kory, Paul Marik, Dr. Harvey Risch and a Board vice-chair from another state who testified that the Board was going beyond its authority

• One expert witness for the Board, Dr. Courtney of Biddeford Maine, an actual infectious disease expert, who under careful cross examination had testified that my records were adequate and patients had not suffered from my care.

I finally understood why it had been critical for the BOLIM to hire Faust at 3 times the allowed rate of pay, despite him not meeting the published criteria that he be in my field (internal medicine) and have an active Maine medical license. The BOLIM staff had even misled another government office about the payment.

Dr. Faust had never had a Maine license nor trained in internal medicine. He had a masters degree in music. I never understood how the BOLIM staff, the hearing officer, or Judge Mitchell had made his testimony allowable, since it should not have been under Maine law. But they did—because apparently they desperately needed to rely on it in order to convict me.

So, Judge Mitchell’s carefully manicured ruling relied only on the testimony of the hired clown, Faust, who repeatedly dissembled and wiggled out of answering direct questions repeatedly. He claimed he had no idea how much he earned from his various gigs—he would never admit that his work seeing patients was just a sideline, and he claimed he earned $500/hour (the amount BOLIM paid for his testimony) for his other jobs. Which is utterly ridiculous. But he got away with it.

My attorney advised me to not appeal the ruling. Instead, we focused on suing the BOLIM for a civil rights violation, in federal court. A 1983 case.

Well, all the papers have been filed in that case now, and we await the ruling of another judge. After all that had happened, I am not hopeful, since my take on all this is that neither the strength of my case, the good arguments by my attorney, nor the poor showing by the AAGs mattered. But I have my fingers crossed.

 

IPAK-EDU is grateful to Meryl’s CHAOS letter (Critical Health Analysis and OpinionS) as this piece was originally published there and is included in this news feed with mutual agreement. Read More