TX Medical Board Rapped for Poor Oversight

Texas Medical Board spokeswoman Leigh Hopper disputed Public Citizen's findings.

"Public Citizen's findings do not track with any of our current concerns. We are not understaffed. We are not underfunded," Hopper told HealthLeaders Media. "The talk about funds being diverted into the General Fund is how it always works. I don't know how other state agencies operate but at least in Texas this is how it is done with the Medical Board. Our funds and fees that we bring in through licensing go into the General Fund and we write an appropriation request to get back what we need to run the agency."

"Like anybody, of course we would always like more money. But we haven't been dealing with a budget crisis so the agency is healthy and it's effective," she says. "Does that mean there is room for improvement? There is always room for improvement. There are always public hearings that we would welcome Public Citizen to participate in."

Hopper says the 459 physicians cited by Public Citizen "is not a figure that we are tracking."