Report on FMG Lawsuit of February 2001

The following letter was posted on the website homepage on February 15, 2001 at the request of FAPA President Jim Cary. It was also sent by fax and email to as many FAPA members as possible. Below the letter is an email report from Juhan and Pat Mixon, our Governmental Consultants in Tallahassee on the court action of February 16, 2001.

From: Jim Cary, FAPA President

Re: Latest FMG Injunction Lawsuit as of 2/14/01

Date: February 15, 2001

The Foreign Medical Graduate PAs have filed yet another lawsuit against the Department of Health challenging the charging of application fees and testing fees for the special FMG PA exam. There will be an emergency hearing on this issue on Friday in Circuit Court in Tallahassee. The Florida Academy is joining with the Department of Health to fight this issue in court.

Graduates of accredited PA programs have to pay fees, pay for exams , and renew licensure every two years. The FMG PAs have had their temporary licenses for 7-9 years and have not had to renew or pay additional fees for licensure or pay additional fees for the test. This is unfair because it treats one group of PAs differently than another. In addition, our fees for the PA Council activities and the Board of Medicine are in deficit. This deficit is partially caused by the FMG lawsuits, test development, test administration, etc. You are paying their way out!! In fact, the PA Council is having to meet via telephone because we are out of money. Our PA Formulary could not be mailed out to pharmacies and physicians because we are out of money.

Let the Governor know that this is unfair. Immediately FAX, email, or phone the Governor's office at (850) 488-2272 (phone), (850) 922-4292 (FAX), and jeb.bush@myflorida.com (email) and politely let his staff know where you stand in this issue. Do not let a few vocal FMGs apply political pressure to permit this unjust, unfair and discriminatory practice of not charging fees to temporarily licensed FMGs to continue. No more compromises; no more sellouts; and, no more politics!! What is fair is fair.

Call and fax your letter today! The call, email, and or FAX must be there by Friday, February 16th, 2001 and preferably today. Emails alone are not sufficient on this short notice since the Governor is 3 weeks behind on his email according to the automated response sent to emails today.

You can also contact Dr Brooks, Secretary of the Department of Health at health@doh.state.fl.us. Give him the same information. Do it today. Now is the time for us to stand up for our profession and to protect the citizens of Florida.

Sincerely,

Jim Cary FAPA President

From: Jim Cary , FAPA President Juhan and Pat Mixon, FAPA Governmental Consultants

Re: Emergency Hearing FMG's

Date: 2/16/2001

This morning Judge Sanders Sauls, Leon County Circuit Court, denied the injunction requested by the Medical Graduates Physician Assistants Association. The organization based in Miami had petitioned the Leon County Court to prevent the Florida Department of Health (DOH) from charging application, administration and test development fees for the Florida PA Exam to be given in September of 2001. As a result, the FMG's will have to pay approximately $1,000+in fees before taking the next exam. The MGPAA unsuccessfully argued that they were only required to pay fees once regardless of the number of years or times needed to pass the exam.

The Florida Academy filed a petition to intervene in support of the Department of Health's case. The leadership of the Academy believes that the FMG PA's must pay for their license as would any other PA in Florida.

Many thanks to the PA's who have sent letters, e-mails and made phone calls to the Governor and the DOH. Florida's leaders must know the position of the majority of PA professionals in the state. Your involvement will help the Academy in blocking future settlements that hurt our profession.