SB 277 – Medical Exemptions – The California Medical Board is Going to Take Bob Sears MD’s Medical License Away From Him…

He’s Going to Be the “Poster Boy” For Execution…

Opinion by Consumer Advocate Tim Bolen

 

Is the California Medical Board (CMB) REALLY Going to take Bob Sears’s medical license?   Yup, and his support network will whine, whimper, scream, shout, pout, dress-alike, kick-their-feet, and ruminate, all to no affect.  They’ll make a lot of noise on FaceBook.  There will be photos with Congressmen.  But, there will be NO ACTIVITY to actually do something to really help Bob, or themselves.

Why?  Because his support network has NO IDEA what the real problems are, much less have any ideas on how to solve those problems.  Why?  They NEVER do any background research – they just EMOTE for a day or two, or a week, then move on to the next FaceBook tidbit.

Is it possible to save Bob’s license?  Yup.  I already see the way – it just took a little research.  Below, I’ll outline it for you.

Who is Bob’s support network?  The Canary Party/Health Choice (CP/HC) nitwits.  Bob was right there during those bungled attempts to stop SB 277 legislation singing in the choir the “We know that vaccines are safe and effective (sniff, sniff) we just want personal choice (whimper, whimper)” song.

Over the next few weeks you’ll see what looks like mobilization for Bob.  But, like the first four campaigns, it will look good on the outside, but will have no substance, and will accomplish absolutely NOTHING.

Poor Bob…

A lifetime of helping others, and he’s going to go down the drain.

Maybe Not…

Maybe, just maybe, 2016 California activists have had enough of those NONSENSE campaigns, run by those that dress alike, and as I mock, “match their lipstick color with their toe nail polish.”  Maybe the NONSENSE you see in the video below could actually be stopped – and REAL CAMPAIGNS could come of age.

The video you are about to see was taken in one of the legislative hearings.  Play it more than once so you can piece together exactly what was happening.  In short, you are looking at LEADERSHIP, all dressed in red, with their “top leader” Janet Nalbandyan being escorted out of the Hearing, by Legislative Security, for “creating a disturbance.”

Janet, you will remember, was the one “passing notes” in the San Diego SB 277 lawsuit Preliminary Hearing I mentioned in this earlier article.

In short, what you see is NOT activism.  It is something else entirely. It is, at best, dilletant-ism, but more likely simple posing.  But NOT activism.

You can’t get anything done when you get thrown out…

And you shouldn’t be going ANYWHERE, and doing ANYTHING, without a plan, and specific goals…

Can activists REALLY take on a powerful entity like the California Medical Board and win?

Absolutely.  Been there – done that.  Read the excerpt below from a 2005 article.  It is real.  The then California Health Freedom Movement took on the California Medical Board and ripped them to shreds – forcing the board into a two-year “monitor” situation, where they had to formalize, in writing, how they are to operate from then on.  I will show you that 200 page report some time.  But for now, I will show you the “written down” Enforcement Process they have used since 2005, that is being used in Bob Sears’s case.

The article is  titled “California Medical Board Hears FINAL “Enforcement Monitor” Report – and Changes Direction…”, and the excerpt says:

“This story is about the biggest victory in the history of health freedom battles EVER. 

It was a banner day, last Thursday, November 3rd, 2005, in California, for the powerful North American Health Freedom Movement.  Years of hard work, organizing, button-holing of legislators and the governor’s office, educating the media, making alliances where we never had before – paid off.  In spades…

The once powerful “quackbuster” influence in California health care politics was broken, years ago now, and, as of last Thursday, the apparatus it set up to control health care in California has been dismantled.  Health care quality has, once again, been brought under the control of the citizens of California.  And, things are about to change radically.”

Why is this important?  Because I am about to make a comparison between how the North American Health Freedom Movement handles a problem, and how the Canary Party/Health Choice bird-brains dress up to bumble/fumble/stumble through an issue.

Now, watch the video, see it depict a typical CP/HC operation – short, sweet, and useless.  Then come back here and read how a REAL campaign unfolds.  They are a hell of a lot of hard work…

The video…

The 2005 Victory Against the California Medical Board…

It was NOT easy.  It took years, but it was worth it.  There is a short 2005 article that outlines what happened, and how we did it, called “Helicopter Gunships are Inappropriate at a Medical Board Meeting…”  The California Health Freedom Movement in 2005 California was scarily effective.  Read the article.

More, the victory was much larger than just reining in the California Medical Board.

We shut down the California Dental Board, completely, when they wouldn’t put out mercury warnings.   The Governor appointed a new Board.  Read about that here – “Quackpot Menace STEAMROLLERED in California…”  

We also got legislation passed protecting our health care practitioners – a LOT of legislation.  See Below:

Senate Bill 2100 in California, passed July 6, 2000, forced the California Medical Board to form a committee and begin a two year study of Alternative Medicine under VERY SPECIFIC guidelines.

Senate Bill 1691 in California passed in September of 2004 to make it legal for physicians to practice safe effective alternative medicine.

California Governor Gray Davis signed into law the most important Health Freedom bill in world history – California SB 577. “Governor Signs New California Health Freedom Bill –  State Now “Wide Open.”

And, much more.  We were on fire…

How did we do all that?

We made a plan for each activity.  But, before that, several of us sat down, several times, and agreed on what the problems were – and all of its components.  We wrote what we call a “white paper” defining the issues, and laying out potential courses of action, each time, to solve them.  This step was the most important thing – and it is the step that the first three anti SB 277 campaign leaders eliminated.

We looked around to see what tools we had that could act as either a catalyst, or a mechanism, to get from point “A” to point “Z”.

We found what turned out to be the perfect court case to use as our mechanism.  As a mechanism for more than one issue, we found what we called “The Sinaiko case…”

Just below please read two letters from Bob Sinaiko MD.  The letters summarize the efforts we went to change things, and the allies we made – and how long it took.  But, we won.

We won BIG TIME, and ALL OF the time.  Here are the letters:

Dear Tim,

As you know by now, I have good news to share.  While I’ll let that letter speak for itself, I want you to know what a debt of gratitude I and my family owe you.  Tim, your help throughout this ordeal was so helpful.  Without people like you, this good news simply wouldn’t be.  The sustenance we gained from the support you gave us has touched me deeply and I am grateful.

Read on, and enjoy the fruits of our labor!

Bob

And then…

Dear Friends,

After a dozen years of fighting the Medical Board, I am pleased to write and let you know that as of February 17, 2005, the entire action against me has been dropped. If you go to the official web site of the Board or of the national registry, my medical license is, at long last, clear and in good standing.  Period.   It’s over.

I and my family could not have withstood over a decade of fighting this injustice had it not been literally for the hundreds of friends, patients, and advocates, all of whom were at our side. We owe thanks to so many.  To Shula Edelkind and Colleen Smethers, thank you for your indefatigable work to raise the medical defense fund. 

To the Children’s Advocacy Institute, the California Medical Association, Disability Rights Advocates, the Center for the Science in the Public Interest, the Union of American Physicians and Dentists, the Association of American Physicians and Surgeons, and the American Association for Health Freedom, we thank you for your role as amici curiae.  It made the difference, we know. 

To Frank Cuny and his grassroots band of warriors, California Citizens for Health Freedom, we thank you for being there time and again, before the board as well as with lawmakers.  To those of you, friends, patients and strangers, who gave money, emotional support, strategic advice, we thank all of you, for your loyalty and your belief in the rights of patients and doctors to work together to find safe and effective treatments for complicated conditions such as ADHD, chronic fatigue syndrome and multiple chemical sensitivity.

It’s just possible that the Medical Board now knows, thanks to the fight we waged together, that it can no longer afford to recklessly prosecute doctors who use safe treatments that are supported by clinical observation, emerging scientific literature, and informed patient consent, just because those doctors are not in the majority.

We were also blessed with excellent legal counsel along the way, including most recently, the terrific representation of Dennis Riordan and Dylan Shaffer, who prevailed for us in the Court of Appeal, helping us set the stage for this final settlement.  Their skill speaks for itself.  But numbers also tell a story. 

Recent data compiled by the Center for Public Interest Law show that we beat the odds.  Only 5 out of 75 petitions for reconsideration are granted by the Medical Board.  Our case was one of them.  For the past 3 years, at the appellate level, only 2 out of 19 prevailed against the board.  We did, and we won big.

The Court of Appeal, in particular, noted that the Medical Board – in violation of my due process rights and establishing a precedent that will protect all doctors and their patients  —  had chosen to disregard, completely, the testimony of a number of prestigious medical experts who appeared at my original hearing. 

We thank you, all of you, who were there at in those dark days back in 1998:  Phil Lee, Vince Marinkovich, Henrik Blum, Glenn Elliott, Fred Blackwell, Carol Jessop, Jack Pulec, Deborah Sedberry, and Jeffrey Silvers.  Your collective professional integrity could, ultimately, not be ignored.  Many patients came forward as well, and we thank you.  There, too, we had excellent legal counsel, Nancy Cahill, Judy Moore.  Dick Turner took over where they left off, and we are grateful to him as well.  While never our counsel, e bob wallach was a constant advisor and friend who gave us hope and direction when we could have so easily faltered.

So, what is next for me as a doctor?  I look forward to a time of figuring that out.  As ever, I have a huge passion for working with children, especially children with ADHD and autism.  Scientific rigor has always been at the core of my practice, and research also appeals.  But, until I know what my options are – and only time will tell how much damage has been done to my reputation that can never be undone – I cannot say for sure.

But, life feels better, oh so much better.  Lois and I, as well as Olivia and John, will look back at this chapter with bittersweet feelings, knowing it never should have happened, but also aware that we learned so much about friendship, about principles, about tenacity that cannot be quantified or ever forgotten.

We remain gratefully yours,

Robert J. Sinaiko, M.D.

So, What About the Bob Sears Case?…

Please people, do not just jump in and do silly stuff like writing letters to the Board.  The actual appointed member Board will never see them.  Those letters will be stopped, dead, by the staff – that’s their job.  And Bob’s attorney will hear about it from the Board Staff.

Don’t call the Medical Board except to get information.  There are procedures that the Board is required to follow – and, by law, they are not allowed to deviate from.  I, Tim Bolen, was one of those people forcing those rules on the Board back in 2005.  Just below is a chart  of how an action, like the one against Bob Sears proceeds.  If the lettering in the box below is too small to read, click here.

[gview file=”https://bolenreport.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/09/enforcement_process1.pdf” save=”0″]

However…

Since the actions could very well affect all Medical Exemptions in California there are some things you can legally do.  And should do.  But first it is time to do some analysis, and ask some questions that would lead towards making a policy direction, and execution of a plan to protect yourselves, not just Bob Sears MD.

Let’s ignore what’s said on the Accusation for the moment…

Instead let’s look at some of the Accusation details.  They will be revealing.

(1)  In the upper left hand corner of the Accusation are the names of the Attorneys from the Attorney General’s office involved in the case.  The one we are going to look at is Robert Mckim Bell.  He is a problem.  He has a history, starting at his attendance at an event we called the “Plan of “96” …

From an earlier 1998 article:

So, who’s Robert Mckim Bell?

Thought you’d never ask.

Robert Mckim Bell is the attorney for the California Attorney General’s office that went to the Federation of States Medical Board (FSMB) meeting in Chicago in 1996.  The purpose of that meeting, and the presentation called “Fraudulent Medical Practices” was to criminalize innovation in health care – and call it “health fraud.”   As the panel moderator,  James W. Wren MD said:

“Our first session this morning is entitled: “Fraudulent Medical Practices: Watch and Be Wary.” This topic is particularly timely because of the increased attacks on medical practice acts around the country by a number of proponents and practitioners of alternative medicine.”

Bell’s role, on behalf of the “quackbusters,”  was to show FSMB members how to use the prosecutorial system to stop, or prosecute, innovation in health care.  You can read his speech, at the convention,(near the bottom), by clicking here.  You’ll be shocked.

The entire “Plan of “96” was an attempt to characterize Alternative medicine as Health Fraud…  Their attempt failed.  We beat the crap out of them.  Alternative Medicine is alive and well in the US.

But keep Robert McKim Bell in mind…  The REAL law doesn’t seem to mean much to him.  He is a consistent problem.

(2)  The Standard of Care argument.  Notice from the “Enforcement Process” that an Expert Reviewer had to look at the Bob Sears MD situation.  By those rules FORCED on the California Medical Board in 2005, the Expert Reviewer has to be the exact same kind of practitioner as the physician under investigation.

Prior to 2005 the CMB used any bigoted, biased, hateful Reviewer they could find.  If the first one they picked didn’t condemn the AltMed practitioner enough, they’d simply get someone nastier, stupider, and uglier.  After 2005 they had to use a Reviewer that was EXACTLY the same kind of practitioner – if the Accused physician practiced Chelation Therapy, they COULD NOT have some yokel that had no idea what it was evaluate the physician’s use of it.

This is where Bob Sears’s case is going to get interesting.  Why?  Because the actual Review, and the Reviewer’s CV, are, at this point a SECRET.  All we see are the results, the Accusation, for now, until there is a Hearing in front of an Administrative Law Judge (ALJ).

But, you can bet that, the actual Reviewer is a Richard Pan/Charity Dean Pediatrician think-alike, CV look-alike.  They will be a card-carrying member of the wholly owned and managed by the Vaccine Industry, American Association of Pediatrics (AAP).  The so-called “Review” was probably never even written by the selected “Reviewer” but by someone in the main office of Merck, Richard Pan himself, or Charity Dean, and HANDED to the “Reviewer” to sign.  This is common practice.  Reviewers are commonly tripped up  by Defense Attorneys, in cross-examination, when it becomes obvious they never even read the opinion they signed.

So, this becomes something the public can question.  Is the Reviewer EXACTLY the same as Bob Sears in his application of medicine?  Or is he/she an AAP tool?  Important.

So, Now We Draw the Battle Lines…

The Sears CMB case will drag on, going through the process.  Let it do that.  The battle is over here, not over there.

What is the battle?  The Standard of Care…  What the Reviewer’s report will say is that the greedy pediatrician’s “Well Baby Program” is the Word of God…

Our response to that?  Use your imagination.

And, we, the public do not need to wait for Bob Sears’ ALJ Hearing.  The CMB actual Board meets four times a year.  Their next meeting is in San Diego October 27th, and 28th, 2016 – and they have several Public Comment periods.  Is there a light bulb going on over your head?

However, if Bob Sears’s own support network organizes the event, you’ll see a rehash of the hearing video above – not a planned assault on an issue – THEIR organization consisting of matching lipstick color with toenail polish.

A Planned Assault like the North American Health Freedom Movement would do?

I’m not sure that would work.  Why?  Bob Sears’s support network is not accustomed to actually having goals, a plan, and working from that plan toward those goals.  Their idea, in San Diego, the last time was to meet in a five-star hotel bar, so as to have their picture taken with “Vaxxed’s” Del Bigtree and Polly Tommey, for their FaceBook page.

Could they ACTUALLY accomplish a real project?  I don’t know – I haven’t seen one yet, or anything that actually even resembles a real project.

I’m not sure what to do here…

Should I try to find younger people who can actually do a REAL project, or will be willing to learn how to set up and  run a project?  Or should I go through my old phone lists and see who, from the old California Health Freedom group, is still alive and mobile?

I’m not sure that there is enough Handicapped Parking around a CMB meeting  to handle all of us old warriors.

There is a WONDERFUL opportunity here to confront the CMB – and pick up ALL of the marbles.

ALL of the marbles…

Hmmmm….

Stay tuned…

 

Opinion by Consumer Advocate Tim Bolen