Tip of the iceberg

"There were people high up in government who wanted his head on a platter."

That threat, allegedly uttered by senior "health officials" to Dr. Lloyd Maybaum, President of the Calgary Physicians Association, along with a letter from the Health Superboard's now senior medical director for addictions and mental health, seemingly threatening the job of Dr. Maybaum for speaking out after the delay of a treatment centre for mentally ill children, should be all the evidence the Premier and Health Minister need to call a public inquiry into what is fast becoming one of the largest ethical scandals in our province's history.

In addition to Dr. Maybaum's stunning evidence, roughly a dozen physicians, many on the record and several off it, revealed to reporters last week that health care professionals have been fired, demoted and otherwise punished by government officials for speaking out on behalf of their patients and for questioning PC Government policy. In many cases the mental health of the physicians, and accordingly their licenses to practice medicine, was allegedly called into question. It is also claimed that some physicians have been given lucrative severance packages with iron tight confidentiality agreements in order to secure their silence regarding the above.

The author of the letter to Dr. Maybaum was a Dr. Michael Trew. He has not yet said whether he was told to write the letter to Dr. Maybaum, or who told him to do so. We don't know who the senior "health officials" were who relayed the alleged "head on a platter" threat to Dr. Maybaum, nor do we know who the "people high up in government" are that the "health officials" were referring to.

We don't know who these people are, nor will we, unless the Premier and Health Minister agree to call a full public inquiry into the matter.

The Government continues to say that the Alberta Health Quality Council can address these allegations during its review of documented compromised health outcomes in our province's ER and cancer care systems.

This is utter nonsense. The Health Quality Council, although competent to investigate health quality issues as it is doing with the ER and cancer waits, is entirely unqualified and ill equipped to look into allegations of wrongdoing, intimidation and severance packages designed to keep doctors from speaking about what they know. The Council reports to the Caucus, not the Legislature, which means the PCs will decide when and if the public will even see the report as well as which parts. The Council has no power to subpoena witnesses or access government and other relevant documents. Furthermore, the Council is comprised of doctors who are untrained in the rules of evidence or legal procedure. They don't know the first thing about cross examining a witness that appears to be lying or probing further into dealings that look fishy.

And how does it make sense to have doctors investigating other doctors? Alberta's medical profession is a small world. What if the doctors on the Council have friends or colleagues involved in wrongdoing? Will they be willing or even able to identify conflicts of interests or personal biases? And lastly, a public inquiry is, well...public. There is no better disinfectant to corruption and rot than good ol' fashioned sunshine. We don't have secret criminal or civil trials - we have public trials so that the public can have confidence in our justice system. Only a public inquiry will restore public confidence in our public health care system.

The opposition parties, on behalf of Albertans, are united in calling for a full and open public inquiry into these disturbing allegations. The inquiry should be presided over by a current or former justice with the power to subpoena witnesses and compel evidence. The inquiry, in order to be truly independent of political interference, needs to report to the Legislature, rather than the PC caucus. We need the appointed justice to use his or her legal expertise to prove the truth or falsehood what is becoming a scandalous amount of evidence that physicians have been intimidated, slandered and penalized for advocating on behalf of Alberta patients; and that there have been allegedly large amounts of taxpayer funded payouts allotted to physicians in the form of severance packages to keep them silent.

A public inquiry will be called sooner or later. If the Government calls one today they have a chance of clearing the air and their reputations. If they continue to refuse to do what is right, it will only ensure the election of a new Government in 2012 who will.