Peer Review Problems & Solutions

I wanted to comment about how invaluable is the Center for Peer Review Justice (CPRJ).

In June 2000, following a dubious “review” by physicians, none of whom were in my specialty, my employment was terminated and my career amputated.  There was little advice or information anywhere.  I was stunned and bewildered.

Some months later I became aware of Dr. Richard Willner and then then fledging Center for Peer Review Justice.  Rich had become involved in the case of Dr. Brian Gale, a podiatrist in North Dakota, and Rich was just beginning to learn the ropes.

Since then, he has devoted himself tirelessly, and at a great personal cost, to those unjustly wronged.  As far as I am aware, he has never refused advice or assistance, even though he did this without payment.  Over the years, Rich has developed foremost knowledge and expertise of the whole peer review process.  I believe that he has become aware of over 2,300 cases in the last 3 years, where the motives and performance of a peer review have shown malice, bias, and incompetence.

At present, the CPRJ has an impressive website (PeerReview.org) with an expanding list of cases and opinions, as well as a panel of legal experts who have extensive experience in representing physicians who are victims of a sham peer review.  There is an evolving modus operandi on how to mount a defense, as well as a campaign to expose the abuse of peer review to a wide public.

I would urge any physician who is a victim of such abuse to contact Rich at info@peerreview.org for assistance.  I would also urge any organization, such as the AAPS, to support the Center financially, as Rich cannot continue to bear the costs from his own pocket.

CS, MD (3/19/03)

I must agree with Dr. X about Rich and the CPRJ.  Sadly many of the lessons that are taught there always seem to be learned the hard way by those who refuse to listen.  It is difficult for physicians who are accustomed to solving problems to accept that some problems cannot be “solved”.  Society thinks that everything can be settled in court.  This just absolutely is not true and the courts seem to make things worse and definitely more expensive!  If you are having peer review problems, listen to Rich and pay lip service to the attorneys.

LRB, MD (AAPS forum 5/7/03)

Before Rich got involved, there was a media blackout on sham peer review.  HIPPA is not much different.

Now people are beginning to realize that institutional peer review is another name for corporate pseudoscience and misaccounting practices.  The future holds great promise for the Center and its sincere and indefatiguable founder, Rich Willner.  I am glad to be his friend.  I can count on one hand the people I have met in life that have the same level of commitment to a just and noble cause.

JS, MD (5/7/03)

Rich,

You are the best. As you know, abolitionists disrupted the plantation economy and we ended up with a bloody civil war. It is obvious who was on the side of justice.

I am interested in the real causes behind why a physician becomes disruptive.  The widely prescribed to theory that is a stipulated fact for purposes of judicial review (until this is challenged on constitutional grounds), is that the physician has some personal issues, alcoholism, etc.  This nonsense forms the basis for a character assassination.

In my case, I became disruptive (though they never used this term) when they summarily suspended me after a complication that was an anesthetic death.

I was mad as hell and made some ill advised comments to a hospital administrator because it was painfully obvious to everyone in the hospital that the anesthesiologist gave the patient an improper drug which immediately precipitated the patient’s death.  The X Hospital attorney then sequestered the chart, removed or whited out parts of it in the peer review (they call this redacting information which is legal under peer review) and when I caught them flat footed with the smoking gun (lab data) from the hospital computer and other supporting evidence, they still made me and my family pay for the crime of another doctor.

When I had proven beyond the shadow of a doubt that the anesthesiologist was the proximate cause  of death during the drama of a real life peer review, my attorney conferenced and basically conceded to the hospital.

Those people were the direct cause of death of my patient and I got a little disruptive over it.

The anesthesiologist lost not a day of his livelihood.

It turns out the anesthesia group lost the biggest case under similar medical facts in the history of TN malpractice 3 years prior.  They kept their insurance and the hospital did not hesitate to renew their contract.

That my friend is the inner circle.

I do not drink, not even coffee.  I do not or have ever used drugs.  I am not bipolar. I am not any of the things that they accused me of on the campaign of institutional terror that went on for years.

In essence, the TN peer review law allowed them to get away with negligent homicide and I paid the price.

The malpractice action that commenced named me and them. My attorneys would never raise the proper defense and against my constitutional right settled the case against me for 90K and them for 200K.  As part of the settlement, the anesthesiologist escaped the the databank and I was reported.

JS, MD (5/9/03)

Dr. Willner,

I know I have told you this a lot, but you are my angel.  I believe God put you in my life as an answer to my prayers.  Being sham peer reviewed took its toll on me on both a personal and professional level.  I will never be the same.  After everything I had been through, I had given up on reliving the experience and just wanting to move on with my life.  However, since my medical license has been in jeopardy, I was not even able to do that.  When I heard about the Center for Peer Review Justice, I could not believe it.  I really thought I was the only one.  It was so heart warming to me to call you and spend hours on the phone with you just listening to what happened to me and having faith in me.  Everything you have told me would happen has.  You definitely know your stuff!  You have been such a great source of knowledge and have a wonderful sense of humor.

I admire you so much for your strong convictions and your ability to call attention to this problem that is rampant everywhere.  I personally have found that you have more knowledge about the system and the inner workings than anyone in the legal system.  I appreciate all you have done for me to regain my medical license.  With your support, I will continue to fight for others and correct the wrongs in the system.  Don’t ever change, because you are wonderful just the way you are.  Keep up the strong work!

KS, MD  (9/15/11)

I have been fighting a battle since 1993. Some say they would have given up a long time ago. Others say I’m lucky that I still have my home and my clinic although payments on everything are always late. I’ve also been told that I’m lucky I’ve only spent about $500k or so even though it translates into several million down the road.

Thanks to Rich Willner and a few other friends and relatives I’m still alive and kicking. There are some extremely important rules about going up against hospitals and boards; the faster someone accepts them as fact, the better chance they have of prevailing.

Rich Willner is without a doubt the number one expert in the United States on this subject. I know that’s saying a lot, but I have spent hundreds of hours speaking to him and we have exchanged somewhere in the range of thousands of emails.

He reads every case he can get his hands on and understands how the evil system works. Most of our conversations lately have been about people who are spending hundreds of thousands on lawyers who don’t have a clue what they’re doing. When a lawyer calls Rich, Rich can give them the legal cases they need to try to make a difference.

Rich is worth his weight in gold and then some when it comes to someone who has been abused as some of us have. Just take a look at www.briangale.com. The web site was Rich’s idea. At first, my wife and I really hesitated because I was in the process of cashing in my entire retirement (not that it was that big) as well as our kids colleges savings, just to be able to pay some bills. Reluctantly we went along with it and it has been given us a tremendous return on our very small investment.

The web site literally neutralized a lot of the “evil doers” as President Bush calls them. There is no time to fight back and get on the offensive because all of the shammed person’s time is spent on the defensive side.

I spent 8 years and now I have finally managed to have almost all of the members of our state board that shammed me replaced. I did this only with the help of Rich Willner.

For those of you who read this and are in a similar predicament; join the Center for Peer Review Justice. It was the ONLY thing I did in the past 8 years that saved me.

I’m not out of this mess yet but I’m in better shape now than I have ever been. I understand the system and the players. Now I tell my lawyer what he needs to do and how to handle things after Rich and I have extensive discussions about it. My lawyer is still involved and has the final say about what he will and won’t do and everything that is done is legal; whether the lawyer(s) know about it or not.

These people (shammers) take very little time to do one thing that creates years of pain, suffering and nightmares for us and our families. Depression is a given for all of us. At times we are paralyzed emotionally and physically so we are too weak to fight back. We try to hold our families together because they are the most precious commodity we have and that takes so much time and energy that there is nothing left.

Rich Willner has given me hope. He has been the “equalizer” for me. Why did he get involved? Because he loves a challenge and he couldn’t believe that the things I posted publicly on another forum could be true. When he did his own investigation a few years ago, he began opening up the world of sham peer review.

As bad as things are and have been, I still have many things to be thankful for. I am alive, I have my health. For some reason I still have my wife (many leave for obvious reasons) and little girls too. Many of us who have been shammed are not as lucky as me. If I could take all the pain my wife has endured away and put it inside me because of what I have been put through, I would gladly take it from her.

In simple terms the answer is networking and fighting back. Think of it as the ultimate challenge of your life. There are no rules except for the ones the shammers make up as they go. You have nothing to lose because your (my) life has been destroyed professionally. Take it on as if it becomes your only mission in life. “Take no prisoners.” You have to pull out every bit of passion you can muster and keep pushing on.

The first step is to contact Rich AND do what he says; take his advice. We have to begin aggressively helping each other. A huge advantage that Rich gives us is that he can get a number of reviews for anyone at any given time from authoritative leaders in the specialty field of his choice. If anyone needs my help I’m available. This is not a fight that can be won with just the lawyers through the courts. That’s what they want us to do is go through the legal process. It doesn’t cost them a penny while it breaks us and our families.

Brian Gale, DPM, FACFAS 701-255-3338 clinic 701-202-1885 cellular 701-223-8841 home

I wanted to comment about how invaluable is the Center for Peer Review Justice ( CPRJ).

In June 2000 following a dubious “review” by physicians, none of whom were in my specialty,my employment was terminated and my career amputated. There was little advice or information anywhere. I was stunned and bewildered.

Some months later I became aware of Dr Richard Willner and then fledgling Center for Peer Review Justice. Rich had become involved in the case of Dr Brian Gale, a podiatrist in North Dakota, and Rich was just beginning to learn the ropes.

Since then, he has devoted himself tirelessly, and at great personal cost, to those unjustly wronged. As far as I am aware, he has never refused advice or assistance, even though he did this without payment. Over the years, Rich has developed foremost knowledge aware of many hundreds of cases over the last 3 years, where the motives and performance of a peer review have shown malice, bias, and incompetence.

At present, the CPRJ has an impressive website (www.PeerReview.org) with an expanding list of cases and opinions, as well as a panel of legal experts who have extensive experience in representing physicians who are victims of a sham peer review. There is an evolving modus operandi on how to mount a defense, as well as a campaign to expose the abuse of peer review to a wide public.

I would urge any physician who is a victim of such abuse to contact Rich at info@Peerreview.org for assistance. I would also urge any organization , such as the AAPS to support the Center financially, as Rich cannot continue to bear the costs from his own pocket.

C.S. MD  (March 19, 2003)