Dear Governor Schafer, I am writing you in response to the recent action taken by the ND Board of Podiatric Medicine against Dr. Brian Gale, DPM of Bismarck. I will assume that you have no knowledge of this person. Dr. Gale is a Podiatrist who has practiced in Bismarck since approximately 1992. I worked for him as an RN, and as his surgical assistant. Prior to working for him I worked in the Operating Room at Medcenter one. I have had the privilege as well as the misfortune to work with extremely talented surgeons, as well as some that should never have received their license to practice. Dr Gale is perhaps the most talented and conscientious surgeons that I have worked with. Dr. Gale received extremely advanced training in medical school. When I started working for him in December of 1993, I soon realized that he had not only the training but the talent to do things I had never seen or even realized were possible. Shortly after being employed by him it was obvious that there was a tremendous effort to discredit him by Dr. X and the orthopedic surgeons. I had worked with these surgeons while employed at MedCenter One, and upon being employed by Dr. Gale, their attitude towards me had definitely went south. While employed by Dr. Gale, we had seen numerous patients from the clinics of the aforementioned physicians. Time after time patients would complain of arrogance, insensitivity, and poor results. Many times patients would have in their charts from the other clinics, that their problems were psychological due to excessive weight, and a poor attitude or lack of intelligence. I have had hernia surgery, a broken arm (surgically repaired), and other surgery. I can truthfully say I have had a bad result from each of these operations. However, no physician has told me or encouraged me to file a complaint or sue. This is exactly what has happened to patients of Dr. Gale. I implore you to take an honest, and impartial look at what has happened to Dr. Gale as a result of jealousy, greed, and intimidation of these physicians. I beg of you that you talk to other legal counsel who can be objective and is not related to any of these physicians, nor that has political or social ties to these people. Please look at the bylaws of the Board of Podiatric Medicine. These bylaws are not being followed in any way, shape, matter or form. As a final point, I was fired by Dr. Gale for substance abuse. As a result of all that happened I had my Nursing License revoked. Most people would have hard time respecting and being objective of an employer that they were fired by, however the truth is the truth. I respect Dr. Gale, not only as a Physician, but as a genuinely decent human being who is blessed with incredible talent, skill and training. I would be more than happy to discuss any of this with you. If I can be of any assistance, please do not hesitate to call or write me. Sincerely, Rick Roth EH