Doctor pleads with board to meet in Las Vegas

Monday, June 3, 2002 | 9:54 a.m.

RENO -- A plea has been made to the state Board of Medical Examiners to hold some of its meetings in Las Vegas, where the majority of physicians live, but resistance was expressed by some board members.

Dr. Raj Chanderraj, president of the Clark County Medical Society, asked the board Saturday to make some accommodation, such as a teleconference, especially for the special meeting Tuesday to consider Gov. Kenny Guinn's plan to relax standards for admission of obstetricians into the state.

Outside the meeting, Chanderraj said many doctors in Southern Nevada oppose lowering the training requirements.

This is a Southern Nevada issue, Chanderraj said, and physicians want a voice.

The board did not hold a meeting in Las Vegas last year and will not this year. It traditionally meets at its headquarters in Reno.

Board member Donald Baepler of Las Vegas told Chanderraj the public never attended the meetings, which are usually held on Friday and Saturday,when they were held in Las Vegas. "The doctors tend not to come and sit through the meetings," he said.

"That's true," Chanderraj said. "But recently physicians have seen the squeeze," referring to the malpractice issue. The doctors, he said, showed up in force at the meeting of the state Insurance Division on the malpractice issue.

Board member Marlene Kirch said those who complain seldom attend meetings. She said the agendas of the board are posted and the doctors are free to fax or send correspondence to the board.

Other members told Chanderraj there were four members from Southern Nevada whom physicians could contact if they wanted to relay their concerns.

Some board members said privately outside the meeting that Guinn's proposal presents some problems. The doctors are opposed to reducing the standards; there's a question whether the hospitals would sign up physicians with less training; and there's also the problem of them getting malpractice insurance with less training.

Guinn made the suggestion in an attempt to draw more obstetricians to Southern Nevada, which is already underserved and faces the loss of existing physicians because of the medical malpractice.

The governor wants the board to waive the requirement that an obstetrician or gynecologist must have three years of postgraduate education or fellowship training before being admitted to practice. He suggested there be a regulation for one year residency, five years of practical experience and completion of other licensing requirements.

Board President Dr. Cheryl Hug-English, who was elected to another term at the meeting, told Chanderraj the board will re-evaluate its position on meetings in Las Vegas in the coming year. Board members said it would cost more to meet in Las Vegas and there would be problems transporting all the records to Southern Nevada.

At a previous board meeting, a study showed it would cost $40,000 for a television hookup with Las Vegas.

In other action, the board found Dr. Ajumobi Charles Agu of Las Vegas guilty of nine counts of forging prescriptions and using the drugs himself. The board placed him on indefinite probation and required he continue in a drug treatment program, seek additional education and pay the costs of the investigation.

The board cleared Dr. D. Stuart Steele of Las Vegas of a charge he violated rules in connection with a surgery. The board voted unanimously to find Steele "not guilty" of the allegation.