From: "Rod Rawlings" <rodrawlings@earthlink.net>
To: verifcic@tsbme.state.tx.us
Subject: Restoration of Physician's License for Doctor Philip J. Leonard
Date: Mon, 23 Jun 2003 13:18:48 -0500
I understand the fully the charter of the TSBME; I, also, understand fully
how bureaurocracy tends to protect the autonomy of the individuals within
the organization. I understand how bureaucrats work and avoid personal
accountability. I served in the military of our country for nearly a
lifetime and, during the course of this time, interacted at all levels
with support, management, and professional personnel who are embedded
within bureaucratic organizations. I have found in almost every
experience, once personal interface has been made, that a seemingly
stalled or hopeless situation could be discussed and resolved within an
accelerated timeframe. The key to achievement is to get an individual
within the organization to take a personal interest in the real problem,
to make a commitment to be a part of a legitimate solution, and, then, to
initiate action within the organization that will take the action through
the necessary processes and before the appropriate approval/concurrence
people. I understand fully the heavy workload of government agency workers
(try 24/7/365 of our military personnel); my point is that someone within
TSBME can squeeze just one more bit of effort and a small amount of time
to help move the restoration process for Dr. Leonard's Physician's License
forward.
While it shouldn't need to be said, it may very well necessary to do so,
"There is a large number of sick, injured, and suffering citizens of Texas
who are without a competent physician and cannot find another within the
Austin area who will accept and treat them." I am one of those Texans, and
this is the reason for my letter to you. Dr. Leonard's suspension to
practice medicine is annotated as temporary; how long is temporary? It is
not my intent to upset the balance of function within TSBME, but I have
every intent to question the process and to urge that immediate action be
taken to restore Dr. Leonard's privilege to practice medicine before one
of his patients die from lack of care. To this end, I have prepared my
formal statement for your use. Please be aware that it is, also, my intent
to provide much of this information within the near future to the
Governor, my State Senator and Representatives, but, more importantly to
an old friend I met along the way, the President.
To whom it may be of concern:
SUBJECT: Philip J. Leonard, MD
My letter is offered in support of restoring Dr. Leonard's license to
practice medicine in the State of Texas. I find it impossible to believe
the accusations made against him to be true.
I was stricken with Multiple Sclerosis (MS) while serving at Guantanamo
Bay, Cuba as the Joint Task Force - 160's Chief of Operations for the care
and management of the Cuban and Haitian Refugee program. After being
diagnosed with MS, I was medically retired from the U.S. Army and began my
long struggle with the numerous and never ending maladies of this disease.
I became a patient of Dr. Leonard in early 1998, when a particularly bad
exacerbation manifested and lasted significantly longer than those
previously experienced. As you on the Medical Review Board must know,
Multiple Sclerosis is an incurable and debilitating disease that strikes
each victim in both imprecise locations and changing intensity at
different times within the victim's central nervous system. Medical care
provided by the Department of Defense (DoD) and Veterans' Administration
(VA) did not and still do not provide for the necessary individualized
treatment for MS patients. Had it not been for Dr. Leonard's level of
current medical knowledge and experience with diagnosing and treating MS
patients, my recovery period would have been longer and left me with
worsened health.
He recognized the level of misery that I was suffering and initiated
treatment and medications that had not been provided by DoD or VA. I
responded quickly and positively to his therapy and recovered some sense
of normalcy. On other occasions, Dr. Leonard is responsible for restoring
the full use of my left hand, reducing the intensity of my nearly constant
headaches and frequent migraines, increasing my everyday energy levels,
diagnosing and referring me for treatment of a spiral fracture of my left
femoral neck that resulted from a fall, and numerous other problems. His
professional care and attention to identifying many unique problems
associated with MS has not only improved my physical health since but also
greatly improved my mental health.
In my humble opinion, Dr. Philip J. Leonard is among the finest and most
professional individuals within the medical profession. Since my first
meeting, I have been thoroughly impressed by his expanding range of
specific medical knowledge and expertise. I am continually amazed by the
breadth of his knowledge and interest in world history, current events,
politics, and nearly every subject that we have discussed. What I am
attempting to state is that Dr. Leonard has always taken the time
necessary to extract enough relevant information to allow him to make
correct diagnoses and practice good medicine. He has always exuded
professional and personal confidence increasing my comfort level that I am
in trustworthy hands. One of my wife's female friends is also a patient of
Dr. Leonard; she has stated to my wife that her experiences with him has
always been at the highest professional level and cannot believe any truth
to the accusations brought against him. He is a genuine humanitarian; I
wish that more doctors would be like him. Our world would be a better
place with less individual suffering and greater understanding between the
doctor/patient relationship.
The reader of my short letter should be able to understand that I am
thoroughly pleased with the care and association with the good Dr.
Leonard.
I consider his judgment and examination methodologies to be unquestionable
and are within the highest standards of medical ethics. More doctors of
his caliber are desperately needed by us; unfortunately, there are too
few. It is my sincerest hope that Dr. Philip J. Leonard be allowed the
privilege to again practice medicine within the critical specialty of
neurology and associated injuries and diseases.
Sincerely,
RODNEY L. RAWLINGS
Brigadier General, AUS (ret)
--- Rodney Rawlings
Rod Rawlings
rodrawlings@earthlink.net
Kill for Peace
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