Subject:
             Update of Medico-Political Activities
        Date:
             Thu, 09 Dec 1999 06:51:59 -0800
       From:
             "Robert B. Sklaroff, MD" <rsklaroff@home.com>
 Organization:
             @Home Network
         To:
             "List, Settlement Talk Discussion" <settlement-talk@smokescreen.org>
 
 
 

This will encompass tobacco, the blues, and physician unionization.  The
last is the "hottest" topic.

*

TOBACCO. . . .

There has been ELECTRICAL SILENCE from Judge Herron (Philly Common Pleas
Court) following submission of a Reargument/Reconsideration Motion (two
weeks ago) and a Motion to Supplement the Record (one week ago); he may
be stuck because the reason he dismissed my case has demonstrably
disappeared, inasmuch as the Wawa Billboard Case/Controversy (plus
related behavior by Sheetz in Pittsburgh and by other
retailers/distributors in at least four other states) isn't "moot" (as
had been claimed by Philip Morris).

Ditto for the Supreme Court, which closed its "reply-period" for the
settling parties (AG plus Big Tobacco) yesterday.  [I had already
replied to an initial wave of filings, last week.]  No one has disputed
my documentation of the lack of "mootness" of the "legally enforceable
interest" averred.

Decisions may be imminent, but the deadline approaches for appealing the
former to Commonwealth Court (30 days from issuance of the order, 27
days ago).  Thus, I'll file the petition a few days early IF we hear
nothing today from Judge Herron.

The AG has also not yet responded to my "complaint letter" regarding
three categories of MSA violations by PM, FAX'ed to him six days ago.

IF ANYONE KNOWS OF ANY OTHER VIOLATIONS BY BIG TOBACCO, PLEASE REMIT
THEM ASAP!

*

NEXT, regarding the BLUES. . .

I received a FAX yesterday from James A. Johnson, the Presiding Officer
appointed by the Insurance Commissioner.  It establishes a 12/13/99
deadline to resolve the tangential skirmish regarding the inability to
invoke data accumulated by the office of the disqualified "Epstein
Becker and Green" law firm.  His letter concludes:

"We will continue to move this case expeditiously and in orderly fashion
without sacrificing fairness to any party. . . .[His orders were
intended] to draw out issues requiring resolution prior to reconvening
the prehearing conference; this aim was successful beyond this presiding
officer's expectations.  With cooperation from all parties, the case
will continue to proceed towards resolution."

In light of the upcoming Holidays, I guess we will get moving again
after the first of the year.

IF ANYONE KNOWS ANY ORGANIZATIONS THAT WOULD LIKE TO PROVIDE INPUT,
PLEASE SO-ADVISE!

*

FINALLY, regarding PHYSICIAN UNIONIZATION. . .

The Federation of Physicians and Dentists filed with the National Labor
Relations Board to obtain collective bargaining rights for 21 primary
care physicians at JFK Memorial Hospital.

Press Release:

file:///C|/My Documents/union-JFK-PR-12_8_99.html

Article:

file:///C|/My Documents/union-JFK-InkyArticle-12_9_99.html

News-Brief:

*******************************************************
* PND NEWS BRIEFS - SOUTHEASTERN PENNSYLVANIA EDITION *
*******************************************************

[This also appeared in the WESTERN and TEXAS editions.]

A daily round-up of local medical news

December 8, 1999

A GROUP OF NON-SALARIED PHYSICIANS PRACTICING AT PHILADELPHIA'S JOHN F.
KENNEDY MEMORIAL HOSPITAL
HAS FILED WITH THE NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD FOR RECOGNITION AS A
COLLECTIVE BARGAINING UNIT.

If successful, it would be the first certified collective bargaining
unit composed of non-salaried
physicians arguing that they are de facto employees rather than
independent contractors.

Earlier this year, the NLRB rejected the petition of private practice
physicians in Southern New Jersey,
who argued that they are de facto employees of AmeriHealth, a New Jersey
subsidiary of Philadelphia-based Independence Blue Cross. Federation of
Physicians and Dentists Executive
Director Jack Seddon said that the facts are entirely different in the
two cases. Kennedy has
contracts with its primary care physicians that set their reimbursement,
where and how they practice,
and comprise the majority of their income, Seddon said.

Kennedy officials were not available for comment.

Seddon said that Kennedy President Herman Matthews had refused to
recognize the physicians as a
collective bargaining unit because he believes they are independent
contractors.

In an ironic twist, the union organizing Kennedy's physicians (the
Federation of Physicians and
Dentists) and the union that owns the hospital (District Council 33) are
both affiliates of the American Federation of State, County and
Municipal Employees (AFSCME). The financially-troubled hospital's
unionized nurses conducted an informational picket last month, charging
the union-owned hospital with anti-union practices.

Physician's News Digest, December 8, 1999

*

We anticipate a hearing within 10 DAYS; the NLRB has ALREADY contacted
our attorney regarding the need for additional documentation.

IF ANYONE KNOWS OF ANY PHYSICIANS WHO WOULD LIKE TO ASSIST IN THIS
EFFORT, PLEASE SO-ADVISE!