Thursday, April 27, 2000

Court denies stay for doctor

JEFF HANSEL, Bismarck Tribune

A district judge has ruled against Dr. Brian Gale, who attempted to obtain a stay of the North Dakota Board of Podiatric Medicine's disciplinary ruling against him until his case goes to court.

In court documents, District Judge Burt Riskedahl wrote that Gale's "arguments are interwoven with his position that the board is acting in a conspiratorial manner to drive him out of his practice. The Court's review of the record does not lend significant support to this argument."

The ruling denies Gale's claim that he is being deprived of his constitutional right to earn a living. Gale, it says, is still allowed to see patients and practice podiatric medicine so long as he does not do surgery.

North Dakota law favors decisions made by such boards, unless specific irregularities in the decisions can be found.

In his decision, Riskedahl cited a single case to show the lengths to which the North Dakota Supreme Court has gone to uphold rulings of administrative agencies.

"Coincidentally, the case involves the same parties in a 1997 decision. (Gale v. North Dakota Bd. of Podiatric Medicine) The trial court's conclusion that the board proceeding had been irregular in certain respects and affected by the participation of Dr. Aaron Olson, who has a long-standing acrimonious relationship with Dr. Gale, were rejected out-of-hand, and the board's decision reinstated," Riskedahl's ruling says.

The podiatric board had argued that the stay should be denied because its conclusions "give rise to a serious concern by the Board for the safety and welfare of the public, particularly when viewed in the light of Dr. Gale's inclination to prematurely resort to surgical procedures, coupled with his exhibited inability to recognize and address complications."

No trial date had been set as of Wednesday for Gale's case.

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