This is a copy of my testimony for H.B. 1377 that I gave today in case you want to forward it to anyone.

Chairman Klein and Committee Members:

My name is Dr. Brian Gale. My address is 2418 Coolidge Avenue in Bismarck. I am testifying in opposition of Bill #1377. I believe that the best way to correct the current debt problems with the Podiatry Board is to change the Board members immediately (not in four years); otherwise the current debt problems will worsen instead of improve.

Wednesday evening at a telephone conference meeting of the Podiatrists in the state, there were some very strong feelings that were expressed. The most important point that was agreed upon by everyone was that 1377 was proposed without having a discussion amongst the podiatrists. Instead, there was an attempt to push this through without anyone knowing about it. The fact that we had to meet to discuss 1377 after it became a bill means that someone is putting their own personal agenda and gain in front of what is really best for the podiatrists and the citizens in this state. This Bill is self-serving to say the least. The Podiatrists voted to oppose this Bill.

Another point that was discussed was that some of the current Board members were using outrageous scare tactics to try to convince the others to support 1377. The Board’s attorney and the Board’s president are the ones who stand to gain by having this Bill go forward in its present state. Unfortunately, they did not think the Board would ever get into so much debt. If the Board were being run fairly and ethically, there would be no problems with the current Board’s finances. Why would any attorney allow their client to go so far into debt without advising the Board or all of the Podiatrists in the state for that matter about the possible risks that would go along with this debt. At least tell the Podiatrists who have been funding the effort that it is costing a tremendous amount and will put them into debt for several years.

The third point that was made is that we do not feel there is a need for a medical doctor to be on our Board any longer. This was unanimous among everyone taking part at the meeting. The Board members should be changed immediately. There should be some way for the board members to be held accountable because of their immunity.

There must be a way to keep them honest. They should not be able to prevent doctors from being licensed and they should not be able to destroy doctors who are competitors.

The following are examples of topics that are in other Board’s statutes however are not in the podiatry boards statute and I think should be seriously considered to be added to ours.

1. Conflict of Interest statement: There should be a statement which discusses the conduct of the Board members and examples of conflicts of interest. The most serious conflict of interest is when a local competitor is overseeing a board as is the situation with the current Podiatry Board. If the doctor can longer practice the Board member could financially gain hundreds of thousands of dollars.

2. The medical board can remove one of the members of their board with a vote of about 70% and because there are so few Podiatrists in the state, we should have the ability to remove a board member if 70% of the licensed Podiatrists in the state agree to it.

3. Some boards have in their statute that the state association nominates people for the board and that the governor must choose from those nominations. Since there have been so many problems with our Board in this area I think this would be one way to prevent this type of problem from occurring again. There is no reason for us to have a board member on our board for 19 of the past 23 years with most of those 23 years spent as president of our board. There is no reason why some of the current board members have been on our board for over 10 years continuously. There is also something wrong when a board member has repeatedly attempted to talk patients into suing doctors and talked patients into sending complaints to the board that he is part of. The only way the Board president can exercise his power is when a complaint is made. The more complaints, the more power whether they are legitimate complaints or not.

4. Statute of limitations for complaints. The Board should not be allowed to review complaints by patients concerning their treatment from many years prior. The statute of limitations for medical malpractice is 2 years. Why should the statute of limitations for a complaint to a board be unlimited?

There is something wrong with a board who accepts and takes relentless action against a doctor when 22 of 25 complaints come from a few competitors or patients who are seeing a local competitor.

Thank you. I would be glad to take any questions at this time.

Brian Gale, DPM