Interprofessional Crap, by Dr. Ogi Ressel

Friday, June 5th 2009

Warm hellos to everyone,

I want to relay a story to you which is a great source of concern for me.
On the other side of the world, a very conscientious subluxation-based
doctor began seeing an infant with obvious signs of birth trauma -
plagiocephaly, bruising, a failed vacuum extractionwhich was then followed
by forceps delivery, as well as traumatic torticollis, and a subluxation of Atlas.

He examined the baby, thermography scans were done and he suggested
a schedule of care in order to correct the underlying subluxation at the root
of this, as well as a pre-payment plan.

The mom's girlfriend suggested she obtain a second opinion. She stumbled
onto, what I can only describe, as a self-righteous medipractic idiot DC who
thought that the proposed plan was an blatant example of utilization.
(there were only 20 corrective adjustments - the rest was maintenance care
for the balance of the year.) He wrote a letter of complaint to the regulatory
board of this jurisdiction and it appears that he pressured the patient to do the same.

This doctor went through an exhaustive disciplinary hearing and lost. It made
no difference that witnesses for his side stated that he was correct in what he did.
His board steam-rolled right along .
He is to be suspended for 4 months, with all sorts of restrictions on his licence
when he returns to practice - courses, monitors, etc - for seeing this baby only
3 times - and for caring.
As a result, this doctor is now in an appeal process - also a very expensive proposition.

I have huge problems with this.
...and I have even a bigger problem with chiropractors who do this to others. ...and
do it for a number of reasons; eliminate competition, self-righteousness, whatever, etc.

A disciplinary hearing is not a fun thing to go through - it in exhaustive, it is
expensive, it is belittling, and can  kill a doctor's reputation.  Regulatory Boards
have a mandate to investigate all complaints - and in order to justify their existence,
they do...and your dues pay for that privilege.

Unfortunately, there are many in our profession who tend to shoot their
brother in the back.

Listen up... we have enough wars we are fighting already. Why do we always circle
the wagons and shoot inside?

Here's what I suggest if another doctor is continually watching you and/or writing
letters of complaint about you. I suggest that you call this doctor in a friendly
manner and ask him/her to explain their actions - communication usually diffuses
most situations without evoking the complaints process. You can also threaten to
break his legs or have him visited by uncle Mario and his friends (I am teasing) if
he does not want to work out your differences of opinion amicably.

Or....as a last resort, you can lodge a formal complaint about him to the same board.
That usually works really well - no one wants to spend time replying to letters from
their regulatory body.
Sometimes... you need to show your teeth.

Let's all communicate together in a professional manner, shall we?

Warmest wishes,
Dr. Ogi Ressel