From: Abolish - The Mailing List For People Working to Abolish the Death
Penalty [ABOLISH@MAELSTROM.STJOHNS.EDU] on behalf of Sandrine Ageorges
[sandrine.ageorges@FREE.FR]
Sent: Wednesday, January 12, 2005 7:38 PM
To: ABOLISH@MAELSTROM.STJOHNS.EDU
Subject: News: KY - Medical licensure board to hear grievance against
Fletcher
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Jan 12, 5:52 PM EST
Medical licensure board to hear grievance against Fletcher
By JOE BIESK
Associated Press Writer
FRANKFORT, Ky. (AP) -- A state medical board panel is scheduled to
review a grievance Thursday against Gov. Ernie Fletcher, which claims
he violated medical ethics by signing a death warrant for a condemned
inmate.
The panel of the Kentucky Medical Licensure Board could decide whether
Fletcher - a medical doctor - overstepped doctors' ethical boundaries.
"I think that we have a pretty clear case that, acting as governor,
I've done nothing that is outside the realm of my maintaining my
license as a physician," Fletcher said Wednesday. "And I would hope
that they recognize that, but we'll have to wait and see."
Fletcher is a physician, and has maintained his medical license in
Kentucky. The governor occasionally mentions that he's a doctor in
speeches, and highlighted it during his gubernatorial campaign.
A group of doctors claims that because Fletcher is a doctor he should
not have ordered Thomas Clyde Bowling Jr.'s execution by signing his
death warrant on Nov. 8. They brought the matter before the board
asking whether Fletcher's actions were ethical.
Bowling, convicted of killing a Lexington couple in 1991, was scheduled
for execution Nov. 30. He was spared, at least temporarily, when the
Kentucky Supreme Court and a Franklin Circuit judge blocked the
execution pending the outcome of other cases involving Bowling.
American Medical Association guidelines prohibit doctors from
participating in executions. Kentucky law says doctors must follow the
AMA ethical guidelines.
Lloyd Vest, general counsel to the licensure board, said the board has
three alternatives in considering the Fletcher complaint.
It could determine there is a possible violation and order a formal
investigation. If such a probe found Fletcher violated ethical
guidelines, his medical license could be in jeopardy.
Or, the board could find - based on the complaint and Fletcher's
response - that the case doesn't warrant further response. The board
could also issue a letter of concern or admonition and end the matter.
The four people who filed the original complaint asked to make a
personal presentation to the board, but Vest said that won't be allowed
to happen. Vest said the board is involved in an investigation that is
exempt from the requirements of the Open Meetings Law.
Any vote that is taken will be done in open session, Vest said.
Fletcher has maintained it was appropriate for him, acting as governor,
to order Bowling's execution.
Fletcher's attorneys called the grievance against the governor an
"irresponsible game of political football" with the governor's medical
license. They have asked the board to dismiss the grievance, in papers
filed with the board.
"This board should not approve a backdoor attempt to abolish capital
punishment during the governor's term of office," Fletcher's deputy
general counsel Michael Adams wrote. "Though high on headline-seeking
sensationalism, this grievance has absolutely no merit."
But, Dr. Stuart Urbach, an associate professor at the University of
Louisville, disagreed.
Urbach said that while Fletcher may not be directly participating in
the execution, it could not happen without his order.
"It's just kind of repugnant for an MD to be involved in an execution,"
Urbach, one of the four who filed the grievance, said. "It just seems
that it's against all of a doctor's nature, even though he's the
governor."
---
Associated Press writer Mark R. Chellgren contributed to this report.
http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/K/
KY_KENTUCKY_EXECUTION_ETHICS_KYOL-
?SITE=KYLOU&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT
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Jan 12, 5:52 PM EST
<bold><color><param>0000,0000,6665</param>Medical licensure board to
hear grievance against Fletcher </color>
By JOE BIESK
</bold>Associated Press Writer
FRANKFORT, Ky. (AP) -- A state medical board panel is scheduled to
review a grievance Thursday against Gov. Ernie Fletcher, which claims
he violated medical ethics by signing a death warrant for a condemned
inmate.
The panel of the Kentucky Medical Licensure Board could decide whether
Fletcher - a medical doctor - overstepped doctors' ethical boundaries.
"I think that we have a pretty clear case that, acting as governor,
I've done nothing that is outside the realm of my maintaining my
license as a physician," Fletcher said Wednesday. "And I would hope
that they recognize that, but we'll have to wait and see."
Fletcher is a physician, and has maintained his medical license in
Kentucky. The governor occasionally mentions that he's a doctor in
speeches, and highlighted it during his gubernatorial campaign.
A group of doctors claims that because Fletcher is a doctor he should
not have ordered Thomas Clyde Bowling Jr.'s execution by signing his
death warrant on Nov. 8. They brought the matter before the board
asking whether Fletcher's actions were ethical.
Bowling, convicted of killing a Lexington couple in 1991, was
scheduled for execution Nov. 30. He was spared, at least temporarily,
when the Kentucky Supreme Court and a Franklin Circuit judge blocked
the execution pending the outcome of other cases involving Bowling.
American Medical Association guidelines prohibit doctors from
participating in executions. Kentucky law says doctors must follow the
AMA ethical guidelines.
Lloyd Vest, general counsel to the licensure board, said the board has
three alternatives in considering the Fletcher complaint.
It could determine there is a possible violation and order a formal
investigation. If such a probe found Fletcher violated ethical
guidelines, his medical license could be in jeopardy.
Or, the board could find - based on the complaint and Fletcher's
response - that the case doesn't warrant further response. The board
could also issue a letter of concern or admonition and end the matter.
The four people who filed the original complaint asked to make a
personal presentation to the board, but Vest said that won't be
allowed to happen. Vest said the board is involved in an investigation
that is exempt from the requirements of the Open Meetings Law.
Any vote that is taken will be done in open session, Vest said.
Fletcher has maintained it was appropriate for him, acting as
governor, to order Bowling's execution.
Fletcher's attorneys called the grievance against the governor an
"irresponsible game of political football" with the governor's medical
license. They have asked the board to dismiss the grievance, in papers
filed with the board.
"This board should not approve a backdoor attempt to abolish capital
punishment during the governor's term of office," Fletcher's deputy
general counsel Michael Adams wrote. "Though high on headline-seeking
sensationalism, this grievance has absolutely no merit."
But, Dr. Stuart Urbach, an associate professor at the University of
Louisville, disagreed.
Urbach said that while Fletcher may not be directly participating in
the execution, it could not happen without his order.
"It's just kind of repugnant for an MD to be involved in an
execution," Urbach, one of the four who filed the grievance, said. "It
just seems that it's against all of a doctor's nature, even though
he's the governor."
---
Associated Press writer Mark R. Chellgren contributed to this report.
http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/K/KY_KENTUCKY_EXECUTION_ETHICS_KYOL-?
SITE=KYLOU&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT
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