“Why are we shifting this over to the criminal justice system, when we already
have precedent for limited restrictions of liberty based on medical conditions that pose a danger to the person or others? We see it with infectious diseases. We see it with measles. We see it with Ebola,” task force Chair Leslie Secrest, MD, said of SB 359. “This would have allowed us more time to evaluate the patient, and then go to a mental illness court to allow the patient to continue treatment in the hospital on a voluntary basis. It builds in something the crimi- nal justice system doesn’t do as quickly. Unless the person committed a crime, I can’t convince a peace officer that the patient is a danger to self or others.” Similarly, Dr. Secrest says the HB 225 veto puts the criminal justice system
ahead of patient lives, when other states with similar Good Samaritan protec- tions have dramatically reduced opioid-related deaths. The bill was narrowly crafted, he says, whereas the governor’s veto “says we are not going to look out for teens who routinely die from substance experimentation, people with chron- ic pain who sometimes get into difficult situations, compared to the small group of people the governor is concerned about. We are turning our backs on people we can save in the meantime.” Heated testimony by antivaccination groups deterred TMA-backed House
MEDICAL EDUCATION WINS BIG
Building on 2013 successes and recognizing physician workforce short- ages, the Texas Legislature gave another significant boost to undergradu- ate and graduate medical education (GME) funding in 2015, including:
• $53 million for new GME expansion grant programs, a $40 million increase over 2014–15 funding levels;
Bill 2474 by Representative Sheffield to give parents the right to know the num- ber of students in their child’s school who have opted out of vaccinations. Dr. Van Ramshorst says some law- makers’ push to eliminate all vac- cine exemptions “unfortunately did a disservice to the whole issue and the importance of protecting kids with compromised immune systems.” But with help from physician legislators like Representative Sheffield, as well as Sen. Judith Zaffirini (D-Laredo), medicine’s message prevailed in passing what Dr. Van Ramshorst described as
• $7 million for primary care physician pipeline programs: $4 million — or 31 percent — above current funding for the existing family medicine residency program, and $3 million to restart the Statewide Primary Care Preceptorship Program;
• A $20 million or 22-percent increase in biennial per-resident, or “for- mula,” funding;
• Steady funding for the primary care physician workforce innovations grant program;
• An additional $50 million or 3-percent biennial increase in medical stu- dent formula funding;
• Maintained funding for the Texas Physician Education Loan Repayment Program;
• A new loan repayment program for psychiatrists and other mental health professionals; and
• Additional money for mental health workforce training programs in underserved areas.
42 TEXAS MEDICINE August 2015
“common sense legislation” on immunizations. House Bill 2171 requires the state’s immunization registry, ImmTrac, to store child- hood vaccination records until age 26 instead of age 18, ensuring the records are available past col- lege and into early adulthood, and to promote easier access to that information. Read more details about TMA’s legislative progress in public health in “Youth Safeguards, Bud- get Boons,” pages 45–51. n
Amy Lynn Sorrel is associate editor of Texas Medicine. You can reach her by phone at (800) 880-1300, ext. 1392, or (512) 370-1392; by fax at (512) 370-1629; or by email at amy.
sorrel@texmed.org.
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