Educate Before You Legislate, Especially Yourselves!
THINK BEFORE YOU DO SOMETHING
THAT WILL AFFECT FUTURE GENERATIONS!
UPDATE, The Virginia Fix-It Bill is DEAD- HB 962 was killed in the Health, Welfare, and Institutions Committee. It will not be moving forward.
A Virginia legislative bill - VA HB 962 - currently in session, imposes a penalty (fine of $1,000 for each offense) for any health care provider who does not provide his/her potential Lyme disease patients with a slip of paper stating Lyme disease tests may not be accurate. Simply being forced to provide that slip of paper has outraged many doctors and medical societies in Virginia- the reason those doctors are now refusing to comply.
According to the bill designed to "fix" the previous 2013 bill that has multiple problems and failed to accomplish its goals, the penalties (monies) are to be collected by the “Board” (assuming Medical Board), but that leaves many other unanswered questions.
I have asked the bill's Sponsor (Delegate Dave A. LaRock- 33rd District) and Co-sponsors (Delegate J. Randall Minchew- 10th District & Delegate Robert G. Marshall- 13th District) to answer your questions and am currently awaiting their replies.
Questions
Will the VA State Police be responsible for monitoring medical professionals offices across the state for violations? Can they enter the doctor's premises (home or office) without a warrant and just take records with them, or will this require a formal warrant?
Or will local law enforcement jurisdictions be responsible? How often will they be willing to check on the doctors offices records and when will they find time- in between dealing with major crimes against humanity?
If neither the State or local Police are involved in the process, how will this law be implemented and at the same time not intrude on patient privacy. If a health care professional is thought to be non-compliant, how will the offense(s) be reported and to whom?
Is there a complaint form for patients to fill out and submit, and who would the form be sent to for investigation? (Remembering if a complaint is going to the Medical Board the patient/doctors medical records must go with it- INCLUDING all Lyme literate doctors records.)
If the medical records indicate 6 weeks of antibiotics were prescribed in contradiction to the 3 weeks recommended in the IDSA guidelines, are Virginia doctors secure in knowing that no investigations will be launched by the medical board into their practices- grabbing up other charts in the process- and no charges will be brought against them for going outside the "guidelines" when diagnosing and treating? Is this bill opening up our doctors to a fishing expedition?
If patients know to fill out a complaint form wouldn't they already know they were suppose to get a slip of paper regarding the Lyme tests not being accurate? Is there someone with plans to "set up" doctors using innocent patients as the bait (entrapment)?
Would there be a formal investigation so doctors- INCLUDING Lyme literate doctors- could defend themselves? Will there be court cases over this situation? Can this boil down to a difficult to prove "he said/she said" situation?
Wouldn't the patient have a tendency to lose the case if the medical records listed brain fog, confusion or something similar as a symptom?
Will doctors be required to generate and produce additional paperwork with patient's signatures stating patients were given the notice about tests? And again, if so, how will this affect a patient's privacy?
Will the number of Lyme tests ordered by a health care professional be compared to the number of patient's signatures on a list, or to the number of antibiotic prescriptions written for Lyme, or the number of official case reports sent to the VA DOH or CDC? Or compared to insurance records?
As for the fund to help pay for Lyme disease signs to be placed in Virginia State Parks...
Has anyone checked with the State Parks to be sure putting up signs is what they want to do, and is not in violation of any of their codes?
Has anyone provided Virginia State Parks with the links to dozens of sites providing free handout literature, posters and signs, rendering this "fund" unnecessary?
How will the funds be distributed across the State? How will parks make application for funds, and who will monitor those funds to be sure the money was used appropriately?
If anyone can accurately answer these questions after reading the bill wording, we'd love to hear from you.