Opposition to hiring of foreign doctors gains support • Health care providers say proposed bill would compromise health care system in CNMI

Private health care providers have cautioned the Legislature against the passage of a proposed measure that will allow foreign doctors to practice in the CNMI.

Earlier, Public Health Secretary Joseph Kevin Villagomez and Medical Licensing Board Chair Dr. Helen Taro-Atalig have strongly opposed SB 12-56 or the Foreign Doctors Licensure Act of 2000 due to the lengthy and expensive process of conducting background investigation to ensure that physicians do not have any previous or pending medical malpractice violations.

James R. Pitts, general manager of Pacific Care Asia Pacific, said the proposal contradicts an existing system that sets medical credentials before acceptance in the U.S. mainland.

“The greatest opposition to the amendment is that it would create a system that would be impotent to enforce compliance to standards of care, as different cultures accept different methodology of practice, and that applying a standard within the CNMI would therefore be impossible,” said Mr. Pitts.

Sponsored by Senate President Paul Manglona, the measure hopes to make the CNMI a haven for retirees from other countries and complement an earlier law signed by the government creating retirement communities on the islands.

Since the proposed legislation will open up the possibility of doctors practicing in the Commonwealth, it would be difficult for the Medical Licensure Board to verify the credentials of the foreign doctors since there is no agency that is specifically tasked to carry out such job, according to Dr. Vicente Aldan of Saipan Health Clinic.

Currently, the Department of Public Health endorses medical licenses from 50 U.S. states, territories and possessions under the Issuance of Reciprocity License. The department also endorses licenses from Canada.

While SB 12-56 intends to bring in wealthy nationals but if the patient’s financial resources have been depleted, “Does this mean that the person will be deported or will the Commonwealth subsidize his or her stay?” Dr. Aldan asked.

The new doctor still has to use U.S-approved drugs which the physician may not be familiar thus may jeopardize retirees due to potential side effects. Such situation may prompt the need to accept drugs that are not safe or authorized to be imported from other countries just to accommodate these physicians and make them comfortable in their practice of medicine, he said.

Saipan Seventh-day Adventist Clinic Director Richard Ludders expressed concern that the bill may compromise the quality of health care of the people of the CNMI.

In strongly opposing the amendment to the Medical Practice Act, Mr. Pitts said SB 12-56 is unrealistic in terms of enforcement of medical ethics and compliance to standards of care.

One of the main issues which the Legislature must consider in reviewing bill is that it would create a system that establishes a different level of accreditation for physicians and physician assistants within the CNMI based on country of origin.

All health care providers in the CNMI should be accredited according to the same level of education, testing and standard of care as those who practice on U.S. soil, he added.

Mr. Pitts warned that the passage of the bill would create a system of unsupervised, unregulated foreign medical graduates who are given special privileges. “This is a system that is completely untenable and opens a myriad of legal challenges,” he said.