STOP GOVERNMENT OVERREACH IN TENNESSEE
LEGAL DEFENSE FUND
https://gofund.me/5adcf1ce
Are you a healthcare prescriber in the state of Tennessee?
Doctor, Dentist, Nurse-Practitioner, Physician’s Assistant, Pharmacist?
Your healthcare license can be revoked without due process!
In 2021 the Tennessee legislature passed Tenn.Code 63-1-170 which states:
“Notwithstanding any law, if the licensing authority of a healthcare prescriber learns that the healthcare prescriber is convicted of a federal or state criminal offense that involves a controlled substance violation or sexual offense, then the chair of the licensing authority or administrative staff of the licensing authority designated by the chair shall automatically and immediately, without further action by the licensing authority, revoke the license of the healthcare prescriber.”
Needless to say, the mandated revocation (by administrative staff?) without any hearing or appeal, demonstrates an appalling disregard for the basic rights afforded to every American under the U.S. Constitution. The Supreme Court of the United States has held that the fundamental requirement of due process is the opportunity to be heard at a meaningful time and in a meaningful manner. Under the Federal statute, 42 USC 1983, an individual whose constitutional rights have been deprived under state law may bring action.
Furthermore, there are no pursuant regulations defining what constitutes a “controlled substance violation or sexual offense”.
That decision will be open to capricious interpretation and left up to the office of general counsel! For example, say a licensed physician or pharmacist or dentist travels to Virginia and partakes of legal THC gummies, but then gets stopped in Tennessee and convicted of a simple possession. This will result in Immediate Revocation of their license!! No hearing or appeal allowed!
Their career is over.
This Bill (TCA 63-1-170) is entirely too broad and is a clear violation of the 14th Amendment of the Constitution which guarantees due process.
Who is Dr. Reach?
Tom Reach is a person in long term recovery from substance use disorders. He practiced as an emergency physician for over twenty years in the coal fields of Central Appalachia, ground zero for the Oxycontin and opiate epidemic, eventually falling victim to the disease himself. Clean and sober now for over 21 years, Dr. Reach is an active member of the recovery community, and an outspoken advocate for patient’s rights, evidence-based medication assisted therapy, expansion of treatment, enforcement of parity laws, and criminal justice reform for people with addictive disorders. He served for four years on the Legislative Committee of the American Society of Addiction Medicine (ASAM) and was a Past President of the Tennessee Society of Addiction Medicine. Dr. Reach was on the buprenorphine guidelines committee in both Tennessee and Virginia, and wrote legislation expanding access to care and regulating medication assisted therapy.
In 2010 Dr. Reach opened a small addiction practice utilizing medication-assisted therapy. By 2015 it had grown to twelve facilities in four states with 40 providers, over 100 employees and 2500 patients. They had established what many consider to be the National Standard of Care for outpatient medication assisted therapy. In eight years of operation, they gave away over a million dollars’ worth of free medical care to those in most desperate need.
On May 2, 2018, after years of commitment to their mission, open political activism and constant harassment from the DEA, an army of over a hundred federal agents swept into their medical practices and Dr. Reach’s small farm, terrorizing his family, the patients and staff, and seizing medical records, computers, and personal cell phones. They disrupted thousands of people’s lives and put many patients at risk of relapse and death. These raids were well documented and scrutinized in the national press, including Fox Business News. He lost everything except what really mattered… faith, family, true friends, and recovery.
Over three years later, and three failed attempts at a Grand Jury indictment, the federal prosecutor in southwest Virginia convinced a fourth Grand Jury to indict Dr. Reach on 42 federal charges of “conspiracy”. He was facing hundreds of years in prison and tens of millions in fines… all for openly advocating for Medication Assisted Therapy and for evidence-based practice.
This was not just an attack on Dr. Reach, it was an attack on Medication Assisted Therapy and people with substance use disorders.
In May of 2023, Dr. Reach pleaded guilty to three misdemeanors for improperly supervising a nurse practitioner in 2015. The Federal Government agreed to take NO ACTION on Dr. Reach’s medical licenses, DEA’s or OIG’s. In Tennessee, however, the Chair of the Board of Medicine and many others in authority were fully aware that Dr. Reach had been practicing as an exemplary and outstanding physician for over 17 years, under lifetime contract with the Tennessee Medical Foundation, a leader in his field both clinically and politically, guiding fellow physicians into recovery and teaching dozens the methods and importance of addiction medicine.
Nevertheless, the General Counsel of the Board of Medicine felt compelled to interpret this law in such a manner as to… immediately, without a hearing or further investigation, revoke Dr. Reach’s medical license!!!
This cannot stand.
Dr. Tom Reach’s automatic revocation is the test case. The correct course of action is absolutely clear… this unconstitutional law must be overturned! Our plan is two-pronged. First, we will be filing a petition to ask for a reversal of the Board’s action by restoring Dr. Reach’s license, then we will petition the Tennessee Supreme Court to rule this law unconstitutional.
To assure that no other medical professional, like yourself, need ever face the specter of an arbitrary loss of livelihood, we absolutely must have your help now!
