News in brief - Aug. 14, 2006

Assisted-suicide bills fail in Vermont, California - Wash. begins data bank checks of health practitioners - AAMC honors American Indian health advocate

Assisted-suicide bills fail in Vermont, California

Politicians in the two states widely regarded as most likely to pass physician-assisted suicide legislation have voted down bills modeled on Oregon's unique law. Committees in the Vermont House and the California Senate failed to move assisted-suicide bills to the floor. Many advocates of legalizing physician-assisted suicide were hopeful that the U.S. Supreme Court's ruling in January upholding the Oregon law would help their cause.

The California Assembly passed a bill similar to the Oregon law 48-30 in May, but the Senate Judiciary Committee voted it down June 27. Meanwhile, the Vermont House Human Services Committee reached a 5-5 tie on the bill May 4. Supporters of the Vermont effort said a committee member who could not vote due to serious illness would have voted in their favor, and they plan to try again next year.

AMA policy states that "physician-assisted suicide is fundamentally incompatible with the physician's role as healer."

Wash. begins data bank checks of health practitioners

The Washington State Dept. of Health recently began using two national data banks to see if health care license applicants, including physicians, have been disciplined in other states. The additional scrutiny will allow the agency to look for violations that could affect an applicant's ability to deliver safe and quality health care, state officials said.

The data banks list disciplinary actions against health care professionals for conduct relating to practice. The National Practitioner Data Bank is one the state checks. It contains information related to medical, osteopathic, chiropractic and dental practitioners. Data include medical liability payments and actions taken against applicants licensed in other states. Some physicians and consumer groups criticized the data bank as being ineffective, pointing to a 2000 General Accounting Office report that found that it was inaccurate and incomplete.

The other data bank, Healthcare Integrity and Protection Data Bank, involves professions regulated by a state and includes health care-related civil judgments and criminal convictions in federal or state court, injunctions, and federal or state licensing and certification actions.

"Patient safety is our top priority," Gov. Chris Gregoire said in a statement. "These data banks will allow Washington to review each applicant's professional background to see if they have had problems in other states before we decide whether or not to license them to practice in our state."

AAMC honors American Indian health advocate

The Assn. of American Medical Colleges recognized Spero M. Manson, PhD, a psychiatry professor at the University of Colorado at Denver and Health Sciences Center and a Pembina Chippewa, for his work promoting justice in medical education and health care among American Indians and Alaska Natives.

Dr. Manson, who founded and now directs the university's American Indian and Alaska Native Programs, is the seventh recipient of the Herbert W. Nickens Award.

The American Indian and Alaska Native Programs are known for their work partnering with more than 100 native communities across the country to provide research, program development, training and health care within rural, reservation, urban and village settings.

Among Dr. Manson's other accomplishments is research showing that American Indian and Alaska Native military veterans who participated in tribal healing rituals were less likely to experience posttraumatic stress disorders than those who didn't. In 1998, these findings, along with Dr. Manson's advocacy efforts, moved the Veterans Health Administration to compensate American Indian and Alaska Native tribes for performing these ceremonies.

Dr. Manson also developed telemedicine partnerships among tribes, resulting in weekly psychiatric clinics for veterans living in 12 isolated communities.