Mississippi Wants To Yank The License Of An 88-Year-Old Doctor For Treating The Poor Out Of His Toyota Camry
Peter Holley writes in the WaPo:
In small-town Mississippi, where poverty is endemic, transportation is limited and a trip to the emergency room can lead to financial ruin, an alternative exists for those in the know.His name is Dr. Landrum -- Carrol Frazier Landrum -- and, even if your pockets are empty, the 88-year-old physician from Edwards, Miss., will schedule you for an appointment.
For the last two years, Landrum has been working without an office, but he's happy to meet his patients wherever they are. Sometimes, the meetings occur in a home; sometimes they take place in a parking lot. Other patients meet the doctor on the side of a quiet country road -- or inside his 2007 Toyota Camry.
The location doesn't matter because Landrum, a World War II veteran who has been in private practice for more than 55 years, believes it's his duty to help anyone who calls on him.
"I've always had a heart for the poor," Landrum told The Washington Post this week, struggling to hold back tears. "I grew up poor, and when the doctor would come to us, and he was happy to see us, I pictured myself doing that some day. I try not to ever turn people away -- money or no money - because that's where the need is."
But his work may soon come to an end.
Landrum said he's being asked by the Mississippi State Board of Medical Licensure to surrender his medical license, which he's carried in his pocket with pride since Dwight D. Eisenhower was president. The reason for the request, according to Landrum, is that the board balked several months ago upon learning that he was operating his practice out of a car.
At a recent hearing, Landrum said, he was labeled "incompetent" by the board. He said the charge is a catchall, one designed to avoid citing a specific occupational violation, and he maintains he's done nothing wrong. He said he doesn't recruit patients and only responds to those who have nowhere else to turn.
... A visitation starts with a phone call in which Landrum tries to get as much information about the patient's condition and medical history as possible. Next, a meeting is arranged, with the doctor driving as far as 50 miles to reach patients who can't come to him. Appointments might occur while he leans his head inside the cab of a pickup truck as it idles in a vacant parking lot.
I love this guy. It's sick what we've come to, where we want to grind a guy like this out of business -- the business of helping people nobody else is going to help.
Meanwhile, a headline: "Rural hospitals even fewer and farther between"
I think you meant to say "Mississippi" rather than "Minnesota" in the header, Amy. :) Ugh, what an awful story.
marion at January 20, 2015 1:12 AM
"Before moving his office to his car two years ago, Landrum operated his practice out of an apartment in a low-income housing complex, where he found himself surrounded by patients, according to WLBT. Increasing gang violence, including two shootings that occurred just outside his clinic door, led him to fear for his safety and eventually convinced him to close shop, he said"
I like his life. No kids, no spouse, driving his old Camry helping people. He's living the dream.
I forget how third world some places in this country can be.
Ppen at January 20, 2015 1:21 AM
> At a recent hearing, Landrum said, he was labeled
> "incompetent" by the board.
I'm not sure State Boards of Medicine find physicians incompetent just because they don't like them. If they did that, I'm sure a court would reverse the decision very quickly. Wouldn't a good reporter obtain a copy of the Board's decision and read through it rather than rely on the doctor explaining it away?
Snoopy at January 20, 2015 3:53 AM
Marion, thank you -- I changed the header and I'm having a problem getting it to show up. (Probably cached on my system. I hope so. Might have to wait for Gregg to wake up to fix.)
Amy Alkon at January 20, 2015 4:51 AM
Relief. It's showing up now. And no word in the story on why they're trying to pull his license. And while I see your point, Snoopy, there's also a push by licensure boards to keep people from running their businesses unconventionally.
http://www.msnewsnow.com/story/27872855/congressman-speaks-out-about-edwards-doctor-saga
And PPen, according to that piece, he does have a family to support.
But I love what he's doing.
Amy Alkon at January 20, 2015 4:55 AM
Note from the piece:
Amy Alkon at January 20, 2015 4:57 AM
"Asked why he doesn’t just retire, Landrum, who doesn’t have children, isn’t married and considers his patients the closest thing he has to family, offered his life story as an explanation."
Ppen at January 20, 2015 5:16 AM
Italian doctor Tullio Simoncini figured out that many of the "cancers" his patients developed were actually candida infections. When he treated them with ordinary baking soda, and got results, his license was yanked and he was thrown in jail. Cancer is too big a business to mess with.
jefe at January 20, 2015 7:44 PM
Amy Alkon
http://www.advicegoddess.com/archives/2015/01/20/minnesota_wants.html#comment-5788875">comment from jefeBullshit. He's a quack:
http://scienceblogs.com/insolence/2014/01/03/a-fungus-among-us-in-oncology-2014-edition/
Amy Alkon at January 20, 2015 10:18 PM
To sign an online petition, please click the following link OR copy/paste the address into your web browser: http://www.thepetitionsite.com/113/603/550/please-petition-88-year-old-dr-carrol-frazier-landrum-to-keep-his-mississippi-medical-license/
Jennifer Speir Wilson at January 21, 2015 12:39 AM
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