On January 30, 1933 Adolph Hitler was named Chancellor of Germany. 101 days later Barbara Jean Morgan was born in the distant town of Waycross, Georgia USA. It is difficult to imagine any two individuals being as different from one another as these two people. Hitler had no respect for human life while Barbara loved and respected life with all of her heart and soul. Hitler was a godless man who defined his own truths but Barbara was constantly mindful of and obedient to an omnipotent God that is always truthful and expects the same from all of His creations. Hitler attempted genocide against the Jewish people and was successful to the tune of 6 million people. The methods of their deaths were wide-ranging but included: asphyxiation by gas, starvation, malnutrition, dehydration, torture, and other horrific means of extermination. It is safe to say that in 1933 not many Americans held the belief that starvation and dehydration should be medically or scientifically classified as a “natural death.” This begs the question then as to why is it that the Georgia Composite Medical Board (GCMB) supports Dr Donald Richard Lynch's signature on Barbara Jean Morgan Hickson's death certificate listing her death by “natural causes” when the hospital records at Mayo Clinic Waycross clearly show that a family member (her husband) directed the withdrawal of life sustaining measures (food and hydration) that subsequently resulted in her death?
The mission statement for the Georgia Composite Medical Board sets forth the objective of “...protecting the health of Georgians through the proper licensing of physicians and certain members of the healing arts and through the objective enforcement of the Medical Practice Act.” Specifically, the board is charged by law with enforcement of ethical standards upon Georgia medical professionals including disciplining physicians who:
“Knowingly made misleading, deceptive, untrue, or fraudulent representations in the practice of a profession licensed, certified, or permitted under this chapter or in any document connected therewith, or practiced fraud or deceit or intentionally made any false statement in obtaining a license, certificate, or permit under this chapter to practice pursuant to this chapter, or made a false statement or deceptive registration with the board”
Indeed, the boards own rule 360-3-.02 regarding Unprofessional Conduct Defined states that:
“O.C.G.A. §§ 43-34-8 and 43-1-19 authorize the Board to take disciplinary action against licensees for unprofessional conduct. “Unprofessional conduct” shall include, but not be limited to, the following:
Providing a false, deceptive or misleading statement(s) as a medical expert.
Thus, it is clear that falsification of any information on a Georgia death certificate by a physician is sufficient cause for board action.
While all of these goals, responsibilities, and authorities sound really great on paper, the key is whether or not the Georgia Composite Medical Board members, who are paid by the taxpayer for their services, indeed enforce these laws and rulings. Regretfully, in the case of Barbara Jean Morgan the board has clearly abdicated all responsibilities to insure that justice is done and the public is served.
If it is unjust to posit that Jewish prisoners of Adolph Hitler who died from starvation, malnutrition, and dehydration did not die of “natural causes” it is equally unjust for a licensed physician in the State of Georgia to knowingly make misleading, deceptive, untrue, or fraudulent representations that Barbara Jean Morgan Hickson of Waycross died of “natural causes.” Her medical records at the Mayo Clinic Waycross clearly show “do not intubate/do not resuscitate (DNI/DNR) per family instructions, which is contrary to the selections she made on her living will asking that all life sustaining measures be taken. Barbara Jean Morgan Hickson was just as incapable of controlling her life support circumstances as Jewish prisoners of war because her living will instructions had been supplanted by the will of her husband.
It has long been known that the placement of medical professionals, such as the Georgia Composite Medical Board, in the oversight role over other physicians is largely equivalent to placing the fox over the hen house. The case of Barbara Jean Morgan Hickson of Waycross isn't just about the falsification of state records, it is also about the Georgia Composite Medical Board accepting money from taxpayers to uphold a civic duty and then failing to do so. In some circles this is known as theft.
The Georgia Legislature was responsible for passing the laws that established the Georgia Composite Medical Board. A serious flaw in the existing law is that the Georgia Composite Medical Board was established to operate as a completely autonomous entity with no oversight, no appeals process, no public access to board meeting records or any other means of checks and balances. Clearly, the Georgia Legislature has forgotten the lessons of history taught by the actions of Dr. Josef Mengele at Auschwitz; that even medical professionals are not to be left unsupervised. The Georgia Legislature created this disaster but in cooperation with Governor Nathan Deal it can fix this broken part of Georgia government.
The Georgia Legislature did not form the Georgia Composite Medical Board to duplicate the lies and deceptions practiced in Hitler's Nazi Germany. The words of Edmund Burke, “All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing” are indeed still true today. Now is the time for Georgia Legislatures to investigate the Georgia Composite Medical Board on behalf of the interests of taxpayers and to initiate reforms that provide the means to achieve justice where the board is unwilling to act in an manner supportive of truthfulness.
