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Tuesday, October 14, 2008

The Stunning Hubris of the Texas Medical Board

Dr. Pigott,

The Texas Medical Board's policy regarding appeal by a complainant of the dismissal of a complaint is set out in Section 178.8 of the Board Rules.


Sincerely, Joan Donley,

CNITexas Medical Board


Joan Donley is an investigator with the Texas Medical Board. The complaint she refers to is a complaint filed against Dr. Mark Blotcky. Dr. Mark Blotcky is an psychiatrist that also works with the Dallas County Family Court System as a court appointed expert witness and psychiatrist in cases of child custody.

I have recently written three horrible stories about obscene amounts of corruption and criminality perpetrated by Dr. Mark Blotcky. In one story, Dr. Susan Diamond is accused of having Munchhausen by proxy by Dr. Blotcky even though he had never had Dr. Diamond as a patient. In another story, a child gains more than 20 pounds in about ten weeks when he is only 9 as a result of the prescription cocktail that Dr. Blotcky prescribed him. In the third story, he helped to orchestrate child abuse charges against a 270 pound man against his 12 year old son, even though he never files charges anywhere but the Dallas Family Court System.

As a result of these three stories, Dr. Shirley Pigott, who this email is addressed to, filed a formal complaint with the Texas Medical Board. This is the first time we have heard from Ms. Donley however another person responded to this inquiry so far. This was the Mari Robinson , and attorney and currently the Interim Executive Director. Here is what she said.

A thorough review of this matter has now been completed. An investigation was not filed because the initial review provided for in Sec. 154.058 does not indicate that the actions referenced in your complaint fall below the acceptable standard of care.


First of all what is interesting is that the head of the board is heard from about the status of the investigation before the lead investigator. The lead investigator said nothing when Mari Robinson sent this email to Dr. Pigott.

Second of all, think about just how the Texas Medical Board is treating Dr. Pigott. Does this sound like open and honest government? I should mention that none of the victims I wrote about were ever contacted during the course of the so called investigation that the Texas Medical Board claims to have conducted. The head of the board dismisses the investigation without an explanation. Then, the only thing the lead investigator communicates is pointing Dr. Pigott to some obscure rules if she wants to challenge their findings.


In other words, here is what this medical board has done so far. They have allowed this corrupt doctor to operate in exactly the manner I describe for years. He makes millions doing it. In the meantime, hundreds if not thousands of parents have lost custody of their children for no other reason than that system was totally, completely, and utterly corrupt. When overwhelming evidence is brought that shows that at the minimum he needs to be full investigated, they claim they have without doing a thing. Offer no service whatsoever. Impersonally point the person who brought the charges to some code rather than explaining exactly what they have done. That's not merely corrupt but frankly it is one of the most stunning acts of hubris I have ever witnessed.

Here is Mari Robinson's email, mari.robinson@tmb.state.tx.us

Here is Joan Donley... Joan.Donley@tmb.state.tx.us

The Texas Medical Board is chosen by the Governor. Here is Rick Perry's contact information.

Here is the contact information for the District Attorney of Dallas County, Craig Watkins.

Every single one of these folks has jurisdiction to stop all of this right now. Please ask them why they let it go on.

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

This reminds me of TeenScreen and how parents are losing custody of children by that too.

Anonymous said...

Mr. Volpe: I read your blog today. I think you don't understand how the TMB works. First, it decides if the complaint is in their jurisdiction. If yes, it decides the statute the complaint falls under --this case it was Chap 154.058--determination of medical competency. Mari Robinson, JD, responded to the complaint by saying that their initial review found the complaint did not meet the criteria of medical competency. Therefore it was dismissed and further investigation was not needed. The next correspondence just advised Dr. Pigott that she has an appeals process in the TMB rules under section 178.8 if she wants to appeal the dismissal. Nothing nefarious here. Just bureaucratic legalese. Just my opinion, but I think the doctor used a statute with a very high bar.

mike volpe said...

With all due respect, I understand how the TMB works just fine. If a doctor diagnosis someone as having munchhausen by proxy without actually treating them, and that ISN'T a case of "medical incompetency" then what exactly is. Give me a break here. He prescribed a drug cocktail to a nine year old and the child gained 20 pounds, and you think that this isn't evidence of medical incompetency. At what point is a doctor not medically competent, when their prescriptions kill someone. What the TMB has done here is thrown up a red herring that is laughable.

If Dr. Mark Blotcky, who has taken advantage of thousands of parents, doesn't fall under their jurisdiction of oversight, then who exactly does? At what point can they determine "medical competency". Do you think that a psychiatrist making a diagnoses about someone that isn't his patient is "medically competent"?

Anonymous said...

just a couple of comments--it is extremely common for these children to gain weight very quickly when put on psyc meds, except for stimulants (which suppress appetites). That is NOT an issue of medical competency, it is a side effect of a medicine. Second, this guy was being asked to give his expert opinion, and any competent atty would have made him state in depo or trial that he was giving an opinion not based on exam.

Quite frankly, i am trying to help you out here--I suggest trying to get his testimony thrown out because he is a hired gun---the APA may have some guidelines, and he may be violating them. The AMA has expert guidelines.According to TMB website he does not have hospital privileges, and so how could he treat potentially life threatening complications of meds he prescribed? Not weight gain, but other complications?

There are many ways to skin a cat, if you get my drift. I am actually trying to help you out, but it appears you have a lot of emotion tied up in this case.

mike volpe said...

With all due respect, I don't need your help. I know this case quite well and just because you claim to have expertise, doesn't actually mean you do. Children may gain weight in response to medication, but a nine year old gaining 20 pounds is flat out dangerous. Of course, his weight gain isn't the only thing that Blotcky created. I wrote a full story about the circumstances. He threatened this nine year old with removing him from his mother forever if he didn't shape up. Furthermore, he isn't a hired gun. He is a court appointed psychiatrist which is supposed to act in an unbiased manner and yet, that isn't what he is doing at all, and I have made a clear pattern. This so called unbiased expert, said that one of the two parties had munchhausen by proxy even though he never treated her as a patient. Of course, the attorney challenged his testimony however in the Dallas Family Court System expert witnesses are treated as something close to the lord.



It is the duty of the psychiatrist to monitor what the drugs do to the patient he is treating. This has nothing to do with what privileges he has. If he doesn't take the time to notice that a nine year old has gained 20 pounds in ten weeks as a result of prescriptions he prescribed, the psychiatrist is not, in my opinion, competent to practice medicine.

Anonymous said...

I have not been please with the TMB's refusal to investigate what I consider blatant wrongdoing. A formal complaint was filed against the psych that "treated" Andrea Yates. 5 different medical professionals doing independent reviews arrived at the same conclusion -that the psych grossly mistreated her. What did the TMB do with this multi-page complaint? No discipline, nothing was done to stop this guy, yet 5 kids ended up dead and a family in ruins.