The Semmelweis Medical Education Foundation is a non-profit organization governed by a voluntary Board of Directors designed to foster education of physicians and administrators in the proper conduct of professional medical peer review.  The Foundation anticipates utilization of seminars, web-based discussion and the dissemination of instructional manuals and model fair hearing plans guaranteeing procedural due process to practitioners undergoing peer review. 

The Foundation is already engaged in compiling a repository of peer review case law from each federal circuit and state to assist practitioners and their legal counsels in effectively fighting the well-funded hospitals and health systems which foster bad-faith peer review in the pursuit of eliminating economic competitors, whistleblowers, those physicians disagreeing with administrative policies and the politically unpopular.

Similar educational initiative aimed at state and federal legislators are being formulated to address the egregious loopholes in the present peer review system allowed under the dubious Healthcare Quality Improvement Act of 1986, 42 U.S.C.11101 et. seq.  Legislative change, wherein physicians are allowed simple fundamental fairness and due process in the peer review system is the goal of the Foundation's legislative initiative.

The Semmelweis Educational Foundation is incorporated  in South Carolina. The Foundation has applied for 501(c)(3) status under the IRS Code such that donations will be tax deductible and anticipates approval in the near future.  All donations are appreciated and will be utilized exclusively for charitable purposes.

Bylaws

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DECLARATION OF PATIENTS' AND DOCTORS' RIGHTS

Ethics in Medicine fundamentally requires that all persons receive due process. The Semmelweis society has been founded to return to the sound practice of Medicine.

Like all big businesses in America, Medicine is under enormous pressure to cut corners and to skirt the ethical rules that are Medicine's foundations. As the share of our GNP devoted to Medicine has grown to 17% (over 1.5 trillion dollars), competitive pressure to decrease costs has led to decreased service. In some cases, Big Medicine has restricted the rights of patients to know their medical options. It is now critical that due process be applied in evaluating medical practitioners.

Bad faith peer review is disrupting the very fabric of Medicine in the United States. We are shocked to learn that large medical organizations have targeted ethical doctors with bad faith allegations to eliminate competition, decrease innovation, decrease service and decrease costs. Unscrupulous tactics by medical centers are at an all time high.

The public would be shocked to know Enron-type bad faith peer review is being used to limit the patient's rights to receive care.  The Semmelweis society has found that the rash of bad faith peer review has resulted in enormous harm to doctors, patients and society.

The problem is simple: if Big Medicine is able to destroy a doctor's career by making a false accusation without due process, the doctor will not be able to stand up for his patients right to the kind of medical care all Americans deserve.

Notions of due process are simple. Any doctor under review should know exactly why, and be able to examine all evidence. Witnesses should be required to tell the truth. Doctors should have the right to counsel. Standard administrative rules of evidence should be used.

Due process is defined by Merriam-Webster's Dictionary of Law:

The guarantee of due process is found in the Fifth Amendment to the Constitution.

Fundamental to procedural due process is adequate notice prior to the government's deprivation of one's life, liberty, or property, and an opportunity to be heard and defend one's rights to life, liberty, or property. It is a safeguard from governmental action that is not related to any legitimate government interest or that is unfair, irrational, or arbitrary in its furtherance of a government interest. The requirement of due process applies to agency actions.

The Semmelweis Society stands for ethical Medicine, full disclosure of patient options, and due process and improved medical outcomes through Continuous Quality Improvement. Join us as we enter the new millennium fighting for integrity in Medicine.

 

BYLAWS

WHEREAS, The Semmelweis Society International is a corporation organized under the laws of the State of Tennessee; and

WHEREAS, its purpose is one of assisting physicians anywhere in the United States and elsewhere, who have been subjected to malicious and improper (sham) peer review under the ill-advised immunity provided under current law; and

WHEREAS, it has been shown by the National Institutes of Health and other organizations that the number of medical errors occurring in hospitals is not decreasing and thus it is clear that the current peer review system is not effective; and

WHEREAS, it is reasonably concluded and widely accepted that the peer review system is extensively used to silence and/or destroy doctors, their reputations and practices ostensibly in the name of improved medical care when the actual reason is greed, economic advantage or to silence criticism of unsafe or poor medical care; and

WHEREAS, the recent gross intentional misuse of medical facilities and abuse of patients as demonstrated by the unnecessary and dangerous procedures performed at the Redding Medical Center in California, a Tenet Facility, demonstrates beyond any doubt that Tenet misuses the peer review process and thus it is likely that other hospitals and hospital companies do the same;

THEREFORE, concerned physicians from across the Untied States and in various specialties with either personal experiences or knowledge of this abuse of the peer review system do hereby invite physicians, attorneys, other medical professionals, and anyone concerned about safe and effective patient care anywhere in the world to assist in removing these unfair practices by assisting and providing help, both financial and informational, to other medical professionals who have been unfairly sanctioned or attacked in the name of peer review. Further, this organization is a non-profit organization with volunteer officers until such time as some reasonable compensation for these officers can be established realizing that the primary mission of the Society is to assist shammed physicians.

ARTICLE I

The name of this organization is The Semmelweis Society International, Inc.

 ARTICLE II

The purposes of this organization are: 

1.                  To establish a database of information available to members and non-members that provides facts and case law related to peer review and the status of any current or pending legislation.

2.                  To provide a list of attorneys who are available to help physicians or other medical professionals who have been the victim of malicious or sham peer review.

3.                  To provide educational opportunities for those persons interested in learning more about the problem of sham peer review and how to deal with it.

4.                  To provide an organization that will listen to those medical professionals who have been defamed and attacked under the guise of “peer review.”

5.                  To provide a service that will review contracts and Bylaws of medical organizations to point out deficiencies in these documents, which could lead to an increased risk of sham peer review, at a reasonable cost.

6.                  To provide advice to those medical professionals, or others who have been the victim of sham peer review.

7.                  To provide a central point and forum of various persons in and out of the medical field to discuss peer review problems and possible solutions.

8.                  To provide sample bylaws and contracts that address the problem of sham or bad faith peer review.

9.                  To help to improve patient care and reduce medical costs by the proper use of the peer review system, by the proper use of science and evidence based medicine.

10.              To advance the field of knowledge in the area of proper peer review.

11.              To assist those other organizations, which are interested in improving the present shortcomings in the peer review system.

12.              To identify and publish the names and affiliations of those individuals and organizations that have demonstrated either repeated episodes of bad faith and malicious peer review or have demonstrated a single event of sham peer review that is so abusive that these activities should be published.

13.              To engage in any lobbying or direct legislative influence, and to provide information if asked to any person requesting it.

14.              To improve overall quality of medical care and reduce medical costs and medical errors.

15.              To work with medical groups and professional societies to improve the delivery of peer review.

16.              To study the process of peer review and present articles on the process and its complexities.

17.              To disclose to any organization per any request from either side in a peer review dispute an assessment of whether the peer review meets adequate due process requirements and to inform the parties of any findings. The Semmelweis Society will support fair peer review that follows due process guidelines and proper procedure. If the peer review is not in accordance with the organization’s own rules, bylaws and regulations, the deficiencies will be identified.

18.              To intervene in the peer review process at the earliest opportunity for individual physicians to try and resolve any sham peer review before the expenditure of excessive funds and damage to the physician’s practice.

19.              To fairly and objectively evaluate any physicians who present their peer review for evaluation to the society.

20.              To stop the use of bad faith involuntary psychiatric evaluations as a tool in destroying a doctor or other professional’s career.

21.              To inform and educate residents at an early stage of their training to make them aware of both the methods of bad faith and sham peer review and to give them the tools and organization to recognize sham peer review so that is can be stopped.

22.              To identify those organizations that support bad faith peer review and publicize these activities to the public and our lawmakers.

23.              To support honest and reasonable peer review whenever and wherever it is performed. Though the Society does stand for the proposition that there is a terrible problem with sham, malicious, economic and/or bad faith peer review, we specifically disclaim the notion that all peer review is bad. We support the need for honest and unbiased peer review as this system properly executed will result in improved medical care and reduced costs.  

 ARTICLE III: ORGANIZATION

SECTION 1: Officers

A.                 The organization will have at minimum a President and a Secretary-Treasurer.

B.                 Other Officers who may be elected as required are:

a.       Vice-President

b.      Secretary

c.       Treasurer

d.      Attorney Liaison

C.                 The President and Secretary-Treasurer will initially be appointed by the incorporators and will serve a term of 2 years.

D.                 Following this two-year term, officers will be elected by a quorum of the Members for additional two year terms.

E.                  This election will take place at a date and time to be established and will occur at the annual meeting.

F.                  The President and other officers must be active Members of the Society.

 SECTION 2: Executive Board of Directors

A.                 When the membership will allow, as determined by the President of the Society a Board of Directors will be established.

B.                 The Board of Directors will consist of a minimum of three Members.

C.                 The Board may, on its own authority increase the number of Board Members to meet the additional requirements of the Society, but limited to a maximum of seven Members.

D.                 The Executive Board consists of the elected officers plus elected Board Members to a total of five or seven if so decided by the Society. If a new president is elected, the immediate past president is automatically a Member of the Board.

E.                  The Board of Directors must always consist of an odd number of Members unless there are only three Members and one Member resigns or fails to complete his/her term.

F.                  If the Board consists of more than three Members and one Member resigns or is unable to complete his/her term, either a new Board Member must be appointed and approved by a majority of the remaining Board Members or a new Board Member must be elected by a quorum of all active Members of the Society. If this is not accomplished within 60 days, then the most recent other Board Member or Member with the lowest seniority must resign within 60 days to once again provide an odd number of Board Members.

G.                 Board Members can be any person who is interested in the improvement of the peer review process and is a Member of the Society, but does not have to be a doctor or lawyer.  

H.                 Board Members may be any Member of the Semmelweis Society. A Board Member may be recalled by a majority vote of the Society membership. 

SECTION III: Members

A.                 Any person interested in the peer review process and interested in correcting the deficiencies of the peer review process may be a Member of the Semmelwies Society.

B.                 Dues for membership are to be established by the officers and then by the Board when it is established.

C.                 Dues or any other income are to be used for the defense of persons who are the victim of sham peer review, for establishing and maintaining the data base or for other purposes as determined by the Board.

D.                 Contributions are welcome and will be accepted. We request that all contributions be made to the Semmelweis Educational Foundation.

E.                  Though it is our interest to make information available to anyone who needs it, we would hope that the opportunity to help a person who has been persecuted will be incentive enough for the organization.

F.                  The Semmelweis Society does oppose the proposition that any of its members may negotiate to reach a separate contract for services with either members or non-members of the Society. In this case arrangements are strictly between the parties contracting. Other than this, it is the intention of the Society to provide all of the above services to members for free, based on the ability and time of individual members to assist persons requesting help.

G.                 Though the Bylaws do not anticipate compensation for the Officers of the Society, depending on the amount of work involved, compensation may be requested in writing and must be approved by the Board of Directors.

H.                 The membership is confidential, and to be only promulgated among the Members of the society.

I.                    Any Member can be accepted to the society, subject to final approval of the Board. Any Member refused membership has the right to an appeal of three Members of the Semmelweis society selected one by the Board, one by the potentially excluded Member and one Member agreed to by both, with due process protections. These are to be established by the Board and are to be consistent with the due process requirements supported in general by the Semmelweis Society. 

ARTICLE IV: MEETINGS

A.                 There will be an annual meeting of the Society at a time and place to be established by the Officers unless the Board of Directors is established in which case the time and place will be established by the Board.

B.                 The meeting will be primarily to organize, plan and direct the Society for the following year.

C.                 At a minimum, the following will be the agenda at each meeting.

a.       Call to order.

b.      Minutes approval from the previous meeting

c.       New members approved.

d.      Election of new Officers.

e.       Report on legislative changes over the last year.

f.        Financial report of the Society.

g.       Old Business.

h.       New Business.

D.                 Additional meetings may be called by a majority of the Board Members or by a majority of the members of the Society as required.

E.                  Business at a meeting may be conducted if there is a quorum of the membership, either by actual attendance or by written proxy.

F.                  A quorum is 51% of the active members of the Society.

G.                 A majority vote of the quorum will be required to approve any resolution unless otherwise stated in these Bylaws.

H.                 Resolutions may be presented to the Board between meetings, and if approved by a majority of the Board may be sent to the members by mail, email, or fax for a vote.

I.                    If a resolution presented to the Board is approved by the Board and sent to the members, a majority of the members may accept the resolution in which case it has the same force as a resolution passed at a meeting.

J.                   If a resolution passed to the membership by the Board is not accepted by a majority of the current members, then this resolution may not be presented to the membership of the Society again for a minimum of 2 years.

K.                If a resolution is rejected by the Board, it may be introduced at the next meeting without a minimum time requirement. 

ARTICLE V: COMMITTEES

A.                 Committees to perform specific duties may be appointed by the Officers or Board, or recommended by a Member as needed to accomplish a particular purpose.

B.                 Any Member may submit a request for a particular Committee to be established by a written request to the Board, including the duties of the Committee anticipated.

C.                 Establishment of the Committee is within the sole discretion of the Board.  

D.                 No Committees are automatically established.

E.                  The Committee, if appointed, will also have an appointed Chairman who will report to the President and the Board if appointed by the Board.

F.                  The Committee can, at any time, elect a new Chairman of the Committee if a majority of the Committee members decide to elect a Chairman different from the appointed Chairman. If elected, the Chairman will serve until the Committee business is concluded, or for a minimum term of one year.

G.                 Committee Chairman will provide a written report to the Board and Officers at least once every 6 months. These reports will be sent to the members for information.

H.                 The Committee will continue to exist as long as the purpose for which it was appointed exists. 

ARTICLE VI: AMENDMENT OF THE BYLAWS

A.                 Any Member may present a resolution to amend the Bylaws.

B.                 This resolution is to be presented to the Board of Directors, or if none exits, to the President.

C.                 If there is a Board, the Board must approve the change by a majority vote, unless the amendment affects the Board directly in which case it is considered approved by the Board.

D.                 If there is no Board, the President will present the amendment to the membership within 3 months or at the next annual meeting whichever is less.

E.                  If there is a Board and the Board approves the amendment resolution, the resolution is presented to the membership within 3 months or at the next annual meeting whichever is less.

F.                  The amendment must be approved by a 2/3 majority of the membership without a meeting or 2/3 of the members present at the annual meeting provided the quorum requirements are met. 

ARTICLE VII: GENERAL PROVISIONS

A.                 This Society does lobby any official, whether elected or not, in order to pass legislation.

B.                 This Society will provide information on request to anyone involved in any way in the peer review process with the exception of those organizations or individuals identified as perpetrators of sham peer review.

C.                 All Board Members or Officers of the Society have complete and total immunity from any actions they take with regards to the Society to the fullest extent permitted by law.

D.                 Board Members and Officers do not have immunity for any actions involving fraud, conversion, or any other intentional tortuous action that is in direct opposition to the stated goals of the Society.

E.                  The minutes from the annual meeting are to be emailed to every member of the Society within 30 days after the completion of meeting. Due to costs, the Society cannot mail the minutes if the member has no email.