Texas medical board funding will help root out bad doctors

Physicians hope a state law helps improve medical competency review.

By Damon Adams, AMNews staff. July 21, 2003.

A new law is designed to boost the Texas State Board of Medical Examiners by providing more funding through physician licensing fees and establishing an expert panel to review medical competency.

The law, signed June 10 by Texas Gov. Rick Perry, also calls for speedier handling of complaints, especially those dealing with sexual misconduct.

Many physicians said the legislation would greatly improve the board, allowing it to do a better job of regulating doctors and protecting patients.

"There had been criticism of [the board] for not having enough vigor in its investigations. We think they are suffering from underfunding that this bill will go a long way to correct," said Spencer Berthlesen, MD, a Houston internist and chair of the council on legislation for the Texas Medical Assn., which supported the measure.

For more than a decade, the TMA has called for more funding for the board. While past initiatives fizzled, this year the governor's health care proposals calling for medical liability and medical board reforms helped renew interest.

Physicians and legislators said a stronger board would better monitor and discipline doctors who are responsible for medical liability claims. The day after he signed the medical board legislation, the governor signed a law adopting a $250,000 cap on noneconomic damage awards in medical malpractice lawsuits.

"We don't need a court of law to decide if a doctor is good or bad. We'll be doing it ourselves, and that's the way it should be," said Del Chumley, MD, a gastroenterologist in San Antonio and board member of the Texas Academy of Internal Medicine.