The Journal of the Arkansas Medical Society Issue 1 Vol 115 | Page 16
by Casey L. Penn
Board of Trustees Meeting
An Overview
some teeth, and we have enough people on our
side that we have a chance to push this through,”
said Immediate Past President Amy Cahill,
MD. “However, the negative, direct-to-patient
propaganda is about to start. We need money to
combat it. We are asking you to contribute $500
or more and to ask your colleagues back home
to also contribute.”
AMS President Lee Archer, MD, offered sup-
port for the measure as well as his willingness
to attend society meetings held by physicians
around the state to explain his support, “It’s key
for us to be the leaders. If we’re not out there
leading, we won’t make it. This is so important
to help us improve our access.”
A
s is custom, the AMS Board of
Trustees met during the annual
session. Amid the routine business
was a report from Executive Vice
President David Wroten that informed members
of pertinent topics requiring their interest or
action; among them were tort reform, the
Arkansas State Medical Board Regulation 2.4
(excessive prescribing), and misleading local
press related to cash contributions to Arkansas
physicians for prescription drugs.
Tort Reform
As The Journal reported in February, tort
reform legislation hasn’t had the lasting effect
for which it was designed. The possibility of
change is still alive in the form of Senate Joint
Resolution 8 (SJR8), a constitutional amendment
referred to the voters by the Arkansas General
Assembly. The outcome will depend on the
voters of our state. In addition to your vote, AMS
needs your voice.
chance – you’re going to have in your lifetime
to pass tort reform in Arkansas. If the election
were held today, we would win, but it’s not.
As far as fundraising for the amendment, we
need physicians to take the lead on this. The
opposition – the folks who are suing you all –
are throwing a lot of money at this.”
Wroten credited current supporters that in-
clude the Society, The Arkansas Hospital Associ-
ation, the nursing home and trucking industries,
the Arkansas State Chamber of Commerce, Ar-
kansas Farm Bureau, malpractice carriers, and
several county societies and specialty groups.
Vocal support followed from the outgoing
and incoming presidents. “This legislation has
Wroten appealed to the trustees to support
tort reform by contributing to the associated
Arkansans for Jobs and Justice campaign.
“You all have been asking for this for so long,”
he said. “This is the best chance – the only
16 • THE JOURNAL OF THE ARKANSAS MEDICAL SOCIETY
(Later in the annual session, Wroten shared
that another $27,000 was raised during the
meeting. To add your contribution or for more
information, visit Arkansans for Jobs and Justice
on Facebook or call AMS at 224-8967.)
Regulation 2.4. Excessive Prescribing
Regulation 2.4 is the Arkansas State Medical
Board’s recently adopted measure on excessive
prescribing. “I recently wrote a commentary
about this (The Journal, June 2018) because
there is a lot of misinformation and confusion
out there about this issue,” Wroten explained
as he began to share what he saw and heard
at ASMB’s meeting related to the topic. “No
physicians testified against the regulations, but
a room full of patients testified against it. Most
were catastrophic health cases. One poor guy
came in who could barely walk and had had a
run-in head on with an 18-wheeler about 15
years ago. These people were scared to death
that they weren’t going to be able to get their
pain medications that they had been on for
all this time. What they’re hearing from their
physicians back home – what they testified
– was ‘my physicians said with the medical
board regulation, I can no longer write opioid
prescriptions.’”
In reality, Regulation 2.4 does not prohibit
physicians from prescribing pain medications,
Wroten indicated. “What Regulation 2.4. does do
is find excessive any prescription not medically
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