Source: http://weeksclinic.com/about/our-clinic/
Timestamp: 2019-04-23 06:52:13+00:00

Document:
After serving my patients for twenty five years using “centsible” (safe, effective, and cost-effective) corrective care protocols, the Washington State Medical Board (MQAC) shut down my medical practice in March 2013. I am appealing what I maintain was a vindictive, unjustified assault on my practice (and those of other holistic medical doctors in Washington State) as well a tremendously unfortunate deprivation of my patients’ rights to the care of their choice.
Please understand that I consider this to have been politically motivated, as there were no patient complaints, no allegations of harm to any patients, and the Medical Commission attorney in charge admitted that it was a “self-generated” investigation.
More information about this case is available upon request. Meanwhile, this website will remain accessible for people interested in the medical and scientific information freely offered herein.
Yes: it is LEGAL to prescribe HGH if it is prescribed for the treatment of disease by a physician – or for a condition which is admittedly not a disease but deemed “other recognized medical condition” which has been authorized by the Secretary of Health and Human Services (SHHS).
No: it is ILLEGAL to prescribe HGH for performance enhancement i.e. “muscle enhancement purposes” especially in the context of competitive athletics or if it is “distributed” by non-physicians (athletic trainers, coaches, parents) for the purpose of performance enhancement.
Despite erroneously classifying HGH as a “steroid” (even the MQAC expert witness agreed HGH is NOT a steroid) the only law regarding the prescribing of HGH in Washington state only prohibits HGH for performance enhancement.
enhancing athletic ability, without a medical necessity to do so.
MQAC wants the approval by the Secretary (SHHS) to be required not just for treatment of “other recognized medical condition” but also for treatment of “a disease”. They argue that the sentence should be read in the conjunctive: the approval is necessary both for the treatment of diseases AND for medical conditions. On the contrary, over 26,000 medical doctors and scientists in 110 countries (www.a4m.com) disagree: we doctors read that sentence in the disjunctive: wherein the “or” implies that HGH can be used to treat both diseases OR specific medical conditions (which are not diseases) provided that those specific medical conditions are approved by the Secretary. For example, AIDs (the disease) is not considered to benefit from HGH but people who are wasting from AIDs (“AIDs wasting” is a medical condition, not a disease) can receive HGH since the Secretary of Health and Human Services has approved HGH for the treatment of AIDs wasting. What is another example of a “medical condition” where the prescription of HGH is approved by the Secretary of HHS? Just being too short: “idiopathic short stature – non-growth hormone deficient short stature” – indeed, this entirely cosmetic medical condition is certainly not a disease, but it has been approved by the Secretary of HHS for the use of HGH.
Also bear in mind that if HGH is deemed not able to be prescribed “off-label”, then it is the ONLY drug in America which can not be prescribed “off-label”. And yet the nations’ top endocrinologists claim HGH is safe and has no side-effects – just swelling and sodium retention if given at too high a dose. Dr. Weeks was found to be giving HGH in low dosages. At this point, the issue of whether HGH is legal to prescribe “off-label” has never been adjudicated in a case of law simply because no one has every challenged the right of a doctor to prescribe it “off-label” because it is common knowledge that doctors can prescribe FDA approved drugs like HGH “off-label”!
What follows for the next few pages is the position paper of the US Department of Justice – note how it instructs its agents to NOT harass medical doctors who prescribe HGH for diseased patients. Despite this clear instruction, the over reaching and over zealous MQAC has destroyed the practice of Dr. Weeks and has stranded hundreds of his patients who have been failed by conventional medical doctors and specifically sought out nontraditional medical care with Dr. Weeks. So lets look at how the Department of Justice (DOJ) instructs their own agents to interpret the law. Note that there are NO case precedents which directly address the legality of a physician prescribing HGH off-label despite the law being on the books for almost 30 years. Why? Because everyone including the Department of Justice knows that a doctor prescribing HGH to a diseased patient is legal! The only cases involving illegal HGH prescription involve performance enhancement for athletes because that is cheating!
(Note: I will underline critical text and add comments in [bold and Arial text below so the reader can note what is the DOJ instructions and why are our comments to the DOJ instructions).
The distribution of anabolic steroids and/or human growth hormone for muscle enhancement purposes for may involve conduct designed both to defraud the United States and to violate federal law. Since 1938, federal law has prohibited the distribution of anabolic steroids and/or human growth hormone outside a legitimate doctor-patient relationship. Originally, the government’s principal legal claim was made under the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act and involved allegations that individuals were distributing anabolic steroids and/or human growth hormone, both of which are prescription drugs, without a prescription. See 21 U.S.C. § 353(b)(1)(B).
Pursuant to this statute, prescription drugs such as anabolic steroids and/or human growth hormone could be legally distributed only in those instances in which a physician, based upon an individualized determination of a proper course of treatment, authorizes the drug’s distribution to a patient under his supervision. See Brown v. United States, 250 F.2d 745, 746-47 (5th Cir.), cert. denied, 356 U.S. 938 (1958); DeFreese v. United States, 270 F.2d 730, 733 & n.5 (5th Cir. 1959), cert. denied, 362 U.S. 944 (1960); see also United States v. Zwick, 413 F. Supp. 113, 115 (N.D. Ohio 1976).
In recognition of the fact that illegal drug trafficking in anabolic steroids and human growth hormone was becoming larger in scope and presenting an ever-increasing health risk to young athletes, Congress addressed the issue with two amendments, first in 1988 and then later in 1990. The purpose of both of these amendments was to criminalize steroid and human growth hormone trafficking.
[Comment: here again we see that the concern is the risk to young athletes because coaches and trainers were giving growth hormone to high school athletes. In addition, parents were giving their children HGH in order to enhance their athletic performance and later their marketability as scholarship recipients to colleges. (See Maron, docket # 07-08-A-1098MD agreed order dated September 20th 2009 where a medical doctor illegally prescribed HGH to his step-son under the guise of “short stature” despite the youth being a competitive athlete and standing 5-9 3/4” and weighing 152 pounds… (??) What was Dr. Maron’s punishment by MQAC? A simple reprimand, a fine, restriction on prescribing HGH, restriction of treating family members and finally, MQAC approval before “acting in any professional capacity with any sports team.” No license suspension. Hmmm… unequal treatment under the law is not legal!
The first of these amendments was enacted as part of the 1988 Anti-Drug Abuse Amendments, Pub.L. No. 100-690, §§ 2401, 2403, and took effect on November 18, 1988. The 1988 Anti-Drug Abuse Amendments had two important components. The first was the creation of a new statute (codified at 21 U.S.C. § 333(e)(1)) which made the distribution of anabolic steroids illegal unless (1) it was done pursuant to the order of a physician, and (2) it was for the purpose of treating a disease. Pub.L. No. 100-690, § 2403.
[Comment: again we see that the law allows physicians to prescribe HGH “for the purpose of treating a disease”. Later that will allow for the treatment of specific medical conditions provided those conditions are approved by the Secretary of Health and Human Services.
In 1990, Congress enacted more stringent controls with higher criminal penalties for offenses involving the illegal ” of anabolic steroids and human growth hormone. This new legislation, which was enacted as part of the Anabolic Steroids Control Act, Pub.L. No. 101-647, title XIX, §§ 1901-05, resulted in a reconfiguration of the statutory scheme regulating the distribution of both anabolic steroids and human growth hormone. The 1990 Act reclassified anabolic steroids as Schedule III controlled substances, effective February 27, 1991.[FN5] See 21 U.S.C. § 812(c) (1992). The 1990 Act also amended 21 U.S.C. § 333(e)(1) to explicitly criminalize as a five-year felony the distribution and possession, with intent to distribute, of human growth hormone “for any use . . . other than the treatment of a disease or other recognized medical condition, where such use has been authorized by the Secretary of Human Services . . . and pursuant to the order of a physician . . . .”[FN6] Pub.L. No. 101-647, title XIX, § 1904 (codified at 21 U.S.C. § 333(e)(1) (1992)).
In 1993, these provisions outlawing the distribution of human growth hormone for non-medical purposes were recodified at 21 U.S.C. § 333(f) pursuant to Pub.L. No. 103-80, § 3(e), 107 Stat. 775.
Thus, prosecuting non-physicians for distributing human growth hormone is akin to prosecuting a narcotics case under the Controlled Substances Act. As a result, establishing liability in such cases is simpler than for other FDCA offenses. This is particularly true because the only two authorized manufacturers of human growth hormone (Genentech and Eli Lilly) have both established stringent restrictions over the distribution of their products to ensure that only physicians can gain access to the drugs. Under the current restrictions, only hospital pharmacies can order the drug; local pharmacies cannot. Thus, most non-physician cases involving the distribution of human growth hormone will involve one of three scenarios: (1) diverted human growth hormone, obtained either through theft or via a drug-dealing physician; (2) smuggled human growth hormone; or (3) counterfeit human growth hormone.
Prosecuting a physician brings other considerations into play. Because section 333(f)(1) allows physicians to distribute human growth hormone in connection with either (1) “treatment of a disease” or (2) “other recognized medical condition” which has been authorized by the Secretary of Human Services, additional evidence is necessary to prove that a physician is a drug dealer. Obtaining such evidence can be difficult. Consideration should be given to attempting “controlled buys” using undercover agents or informants. Both search warrants and grand jury subpoenas for the physician’s medical files will often need to be utilized. Of course, in so doing, care must be given to protect the bona fide privacy interests of any legitimate patients the physician might have.
NOTE: that concludes the text of the DOJ instructions to its agents as regards HGH with comments in Arial font. Now we continue with the Case supporting Dr. Weeks.
So why was Dr. Weeks attacked by the Washington State Medical Board (MQAC) in the first place and why was he considered too dangerous to be allowed to continue to practice?
The complaint against Dr. Weeks was “self-generated” by MQAC.
All patients declared under oath and in written testimony that Dr.. Weeks’ treatment of their illness was superior to that which they had experienced with conventional medical doctors.
Nonetheless the risk was considered “moderate to severe” allowing for suspension of Dr. Weeks’ license.
The egregious behavior was prescribing low dose HGH to three diseased patients from 2006-2009 and not since then.
In the three years of the investigation, MQAC made no effort to stop Dr. Weeks’ practice.
However, at the administrative hearing, the MQAC deemed this prior behavior ending in 2009 (which helped patients recover) to be a present danger sufficient to suspend Dr. Weeks’ license.
In short, the state medical board attacked Dr. Weeks as part of a comprehensive strategy to eliminate leading integrative holistic medical doctors because such care is not approved by Corporate Medicine (Big Pharma Big Insurance and the AMA). In that sense, Dr. Weeks represents a threat to orthodox medical doctors and the entire industry of disease management. The fact that government appointed “public servants” would operate with such bias and careless disregard of both Washington State law and Federal Law is a travesty of justice the details of which should be shouted from the rooftops! Health care freedom of choice is being attacked by bureaucrats who are pawns of Corporate Medicine (Big Pharma, Big Insurance and the AMA). If they are allowed to proceed unchallenged, your children may very well only have side-effect laden, expensive, patented medications available when they are sick. As the great poet Goethe remarked: “Nature holds no spectacle more hideous than that of ignorance in action.” Don’t let the bureaucratic pawns of Corporate Medicine steal your health care freedom!
Every riveting story needs to have heroes as well as villains and this story is no exception – the evil villains are numerous.
So, who are the villains?
Villain #1: Introducing Dr. Thomas Perls.
Any residual doubt about the actual legality of HGH can be alleviated by simply searching “HGH and any major city” and you will find doctors offering HGH to people for the treatment of diseases without permission of the Secretary of Health and Human Services. For example: “HGH and Miami” (http://www.miami-hgh-therapy.com) or “HGH and New York” (http://www.hgh1.com/hgh-nyc-low-t-therapy-clinics-doctors-new-york-ny/ ) or HGH and Los Angeles” (http://rejuvalife.md/anti-aging-medicine/human-growth-hormone). However, the FSMB (puppet master of state medical boards) has these practices in their crosshairs and if Dr. Weeks’s appeal is not successful, HGH will be shut down across the country based on erroneous interpretation of legislative intent and Federal law.
4. Conflict of Interest: Tom Perls appears biased. See his website: www.hghwatch.com. Rather than offer an unbiased scientific assessment, his value is solely that of a well-funded hit man against innovative medical doctors. He reportedly was also a part owner of a biotech company(s) “Arch Venture Capital” which was developing a product to compete with natural HGH but clear and full disclosure has not been accomplished. If indeed this conflict of interest exists and was not disclosed when he was hired by Washington State AAG, there will be consequences.
Despite MQAC being charged with affording defendants like Dr. Weeks “fair and objective decisions” and to “Recuse themselves when there is a real or potential conflict of interest, or the appearance of such a conflict.” http://www.doh.wa.gov/LicensesPermitsandCertificates/MedicalCommission/CommissionInformation/Purpose.aspx , MQAC chose a highly suspect expert witness and broke many ethical rules is continuing to use his services.
What is a fair ethical expert witness?
In this instance, Hoffman was an academic professor who admits ignorance and disinterest and distain regarding holistic and complementary and integrative and anti-aging medicine. Hoffman claims to be an authority of HGH but the record shows he prescribes HGH solely in a specialty tertiary care practice for a rare group of patients with brain injury, not similar to the patient population Dr. Weeks cares for: elderly diseased patient. Despite being unqualified to be an expert witness in a case such as Dr. Weeks’ (which required an assessment of the practice of an integrative holistic medical doctor), Hoffman, under oath, endorsed the mission statement of the very professional organization, American Academy of Anti-aging Medicine, which he denigrated.
The American Academy of Anti-Aging Medicine, Inc. (“A4M”) is a not-for-profit medical society dedicated to the advancement of technology to detect, prevent, and treat aging related disease and to promote research into methods to retard and optimize the human aging process. A4M is also dedicated to educating physicians, scientists, and members of the public on anti-aging issues.
A4M believes that the disabilities associated with normal aging are caused by physiological dysfunction which in many cases are ameliorable to medical treatment, such that the human life span can be increased, and the quality of one’s life improved as one grows chronologically older.
A4M seeks to disseminate information concerning innovative science and research as well as treatment modalities designed to prolong the human life span.
In this case, Hoffman had consulted on a HGH case two years prior to the charges against BSW and other doctors, and in fact had collaborated with the Attorney General on the drafting of the new standard of care for the use of HGH that Washington State put forth in 2010. Furthermore, Hoffman allowed himself to be thoroughly prepped for his testimony by the AAG in flagrant violation of this code of ethics.
How can a truthful statement embrace both these ideas: 1) “Dr. Weeks is a moderate to severe danger to the public” and 2) “The harm Dr. Weeks represents is theoretical.” Hoffman was hypocritical and intellectually dishonest to the point of disqualifying himself when he declared, under oath, that the use of HGH in non-AGHD adults was dangerous, yet refused to acknowledge that the very article from which he drew his conclusions, a meta-analysis he co-authored, revealed that the one study that used low dosages similar to those prescribed by Dr. Weeks (the rest were up to 20-30 times higher) caused NO harm or side effects. Yet Dr. Hoffman was willing to testify under oath that Dr. Weeks risked moderate to severe harm to his patients, a calculated strategy between him and the AAG which allowed them to apply a second tier sanction of three year suspension.
To his shame, “judge” Kuntz (see Villain #3 below) did not allow the power point in as evidence at Dr. Weeks’ MQAC hearing. Had he done so, it would have disqualified the MQAC’s only expert witness. MQAC knew that this conflict of interest existed and refused to act ethically and disqualify Hoffman.
The MQAC is composed of 18 commissioners appointed by the Governor who are charged with protecting the public health and safety through the regulation of licensed doctors. The rules of MQAC are that commissioners sitting in judgment of a doctor need to be unbiased. Yet Kuntz allowed a highly biased former commission member (who had been aggressively against HGH when an active commissioner) who had not been on the MQAC for three years (retired 2010) to sit in judgment of Dr. Weeks.
Kuntz refused to allow justice into the proceedings in a number of ways. First and foremost, he refused to grant any continuances despite Dr. Weeks’ attorney Michele Atkins unilaterally abandoning Dr. Weeks a mere 2 weeks before deposition having not identified any expert witness! Any ethical judge would have granted extension in the name of fairness. Dr. Weeks’ new attorney routinely complained “We don’t have enough time to do justice to this case.” All other HGH defendants were granted continuances for a variety of reasons For example, one defendant voluntarily hired a new lawyer and was given a continuance whereas Dr. Weeks was abandoned by his lawyer and had to find a new lawyer at the 11th hour who was not granted a just continuance.
Another issue related to time was the limitation of Dr. Weeks’s defense at the MQAC hearing to only a few hours making it impossible to allow for testimony of three of his witnesses Dr. Forsythe (who himself was vindicated in a HGH case), and two of the patients in the case who were prepared to testify that Dr. Weeks’ care was the best they had ever received from a doctor and that HGH was essential to their recovery. Dr. Weeks’ defense was cut short because Kuntz noticed that the court stenographer was getting tired so, instead of arranging for a replacement for the weary stenographer, he ended the hearing prematurely thereby compromising Dr. Weeks defense efforts.
Kuntz refused to all discussion about the law at the hearing stating “I will instruct the commissioners in all matters of law”. The facts demonstrate that Kuntz was entirely ignorant and uninformed about the law thereby denying legal rights to Dr. Weeks.
Careless: Dr. Weeks’ petitioned Alan Hancock to “stay the sanction pending judicial review” meaning, during the appeal Dr. Weeks requested that he be allowed to continue caring for his severely ill cancer patients and employing his loyal staff. Hancock, took less than an hour to reject all Dr. Weeks’ appeals and refused to consider the legal arguments of Dr. Weeks’ counsel.
“The standard of care is frequently defined as “the degree of care that would be rendered by a reasonably competent physician practicing under the same or similar circumstances”. “One expert who is unusually candid admitted privately that although informed by number of sources the standard of care that she applies in any given case is essentially “made up” because nowhere is it clearly defined.” see The Ethical Medical Expert Witness , Journal of Medical Licensure and Discipline vol. 89 No 3 2003 p.129).
There are rules of procedure in legal proceedings. They are logical and failure to conform to these rules results in censure or consequences by a fair judge. In Dr. Weeks case, his attorney filed the “petition to stay the sanctions” in a timely manner and the response from the opposing Assistant Attorney general (AAG) for MQAC was due on a Thursday, 6 days prior to the court date. It did not arrive and Dr. Weeks’s attorney was astonished. By the end of day Friday, any objection by the AAG to Dr. Weeks’ request for stay of sanctions had still not arrived. There was no word over the weekend, and so on Monday, four days after the AAG’s anticipated rejection of our petition for stay was due, Dr. Weeks’ attorney petitioned the court to grant the stay, since the AAG had missed her chance to argue against Dr. Weeks’ petition. No word from Judge Hancock. Then Wednesday, the court received the AAG’s motion to reject Dr. Weeks petition to stay the sanctions…. 6 days late! Adding more insult, there was no explanation by the AAG for her having ignored the time requirements, so when Judge Hancock alerted both parties on Thursday that the case would be heard the next day, Dr. Weeks’ attorney suspected the sole purpose would be for Judge Hancock to read the AAG the riot act for her insolent tardiness in frank disrespect for the rules of the court. Instead Judge Hancock totally disregarded her lateness despite acknowledging that it allowed inadequate time for Dr. Weeks’ attorney to prepare a response. Unjust judgment at every level.
Friends, to be clear, the DOJ is the government agency most concerned with interpreting and enforcing the federal law and yet a judge on a tiny island off the coast of Seattle was arrogant enough to claim to know the law better than the DOJ. Astonishing arrogance !
According to the Alliance for Natural Health (http://www.anh-usa.org) “The FSMB is an elite, highly influential, secretive private organization. We also believe that it is thoroughly corrupt. See Action Alert!
They warn patients in all 50 states: “Is Your State Medical Board in Bed with the FSMB? The Federation of State Medical Boards (FSMB) is a private trade organization representing the seventy state medical and osteopathic boards of the US and its territories. Whatever the FSMB suggests in terms of medical care policies are often adopted by the state medical boards, yet it has no public funding, transparency, or accountability.
The organization is also extremely hostile to integrative medicine, calling it “quackery.” Because of this, the FSMB has consistently defined “standard of care” as excluding integrative medicine, and so many state medical boards follow suit. The FSMB receives a great deal of money from the pharmaceutical industry, and supports the use of addictive opioid drugs to treat long-term pain.
It is clear that the FSMB is actively trying to influence legislation and outlaw holistic medicine.
Source: Section VI Legislative Strategies of the “SPECIAL COMMITTEE ON QUESTIONABLE AND DECEPTIVE HEALTHCARE PRACTICES FEDERATION OF STATE MEDICAL BOARDS OF THE UNITED STATES, INC. (Note: originally this report was produced by the Special Committee on Health Care Fraud. At the Federation’s 1999 House of Delegates meeting, the committee was renamed the Special Committee on Questionable and Deceptive Healthcare Practices. The Federation of State Medical Board’s governing body accepted this Report as policy in April 1997. Here FSMB is arrogant enough to seek to thwart the will of the people which is trending to seeking more laws allowing for “access to unconventional treatments”.
So, that is the story of the persecution of Dr. Weeks spanning his entire career as an innovative and courageous medical doctor and culminating after 25 years with a 4 year investigation followed by immediate suspension of license by MQAC. Appeals are pending and we are taking this battle to the people. Shouting the facts of the case from the “rooftops” of email blogs and medical newsletters is required.
In this story, we have good guys (innovative doctors like Dr. Weeks and his 26,000 medical colleagues who tirelessly seek safe and innovative treatments which exceed the standard of care and deliver superior treatments for informed patients who desire cutting edge medicine) and we have evil villains (including one “arch-villain”).
So what is your role in this dramatic story, dear reader?
Well, assuming (since you read this far!) that you are interested in heath care freedom and are an intelligent, informed and discriminating consumer of health care, your role is to become politically active. Also, and very importantly, you and your company or friends can make a donation to Dr. Weeks’ legal defense fund to support his appeal. Consider this to be an investment in freedom of choice in health care and your opportunity to help draw a line in the sand against FSMB (puppet master of state medical board and agent of Corporate Medicine) -Big pHARMa, Big Insurance and the American Medical Association).
Consider an investment in preserving holistic medicine and freedom of choice in health care.
Your health is worth fighting for! We are your champion and we are committed to fighting for your rights and the rights of your children to access freedom of choice in health care.

References: § 353
 v. 
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 § 333
 § 2403
 § 812
 § 333
 § 1904
 § 333
 § 333
 § 3