Watchdog Sues Louisiana Over Racial Quota on Medical Board

Louisiana Gov. John Bel Edwards speaks about the investigation into the death of Ronald Greene in Baton Rouge, La., on Feb. 1, 2022. Matthew Hinton, File/AP Photo

A medical watchdog group is suing Louisiana in federal court over a racial quota for the state’s board of medical examiners, which the group argues violates the U.S. Constitution’s guarantee of equal protection.

Do No Harm is suing over a racial mandate that requires the state’s governor to exclude nonminority candidates for a certain number of positions on the Louisiana State Board of Medical Examiners.

Litigant Do No Harm is a national nonprofit headquartered in Glen Allen, Virginia. Its membership consists of more than 6,000 medical professionals, students, policymakers, and other interested members of the general public. Its mission is “to protect healthcare from a radical, divisive, and discriminatory ideology,” according to court documents.

The lawsuit, filed by the Pacific Legal Foundation (PLF), claims that the racial mandate runs afoul of the Constitution’s 14th Amendment and seeks an injunction permanently preventing the state from enforcing or attempting to enforce the mandate. PLF is a national public interest law firm based in Sacramento, California, that challenges government abuses.

The legal complaint in Do No Harm v. Edwards was filed on Jan. 4 in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Louisiana, Shreveport Division.

Louisiana Gov. John Bel Edwards is being sued in his official capacity as governor. Jeff Landry will succeed him as governor this month, after which he’s expected to replace Mr. Edwards as the defendant in the case.

The Louisiana State Board of Medical Examiners consists of 10 members appointed by the governor.

State law provides that physicians serving on the board must have been licensed for a minimum of five years and have been residents of Louisiana for at least six months. One spot on the board is reserved for a nonphysician.

‘Discriminatory Mandate’

In 2018, the Louisiana State Legislature passed legislation requiring the governor to use racial criteria when selecting new members for certain board slots. Four seats that must be filled by minorities will become available in the coming two years.

The mandate will prevent qualified potential board appointees from being given equal consideration for the seats that will open up, which violates the Constitution’s equal-protection guarantees, the group argues.

“Choosing candidates to oversee the critical aspect of the state’s medical field based on anything other than merit is corrosive to the mission and perception of the Louisiana State Board of Medical Examiners,” Dr. Stanley Goldfarb, chairman of Do No Harm, said in a statement.

“This type of discriminatory mandate is not only unconstitutional, but also reflects the politicization of healthcare that is dangerous for patients and physicians.”

Dr. Goldfarb is a retired kidney specialist and a former associate dean at the University of Pennsylvania Medical School.

“Expertise should be the determining factor, and Louisiana must get rid of discriminatory practices to refocus on medical excellence,”  she said.

PLF attorney Laura D’Agostino told The Epoch Times, “No one should be denied the opportunity to serve their community because of their race or their gender.”

Do No Harm is “taking a stand against these racial quotas, these divisions within health care that shouldn’t exist.”

“They have no place,” she said.

“Medicine is an especially important area to treat people like individuals, because we each have unique conditions, unique issues, and race should play no part in health care, much less with a medical board that licenses the doctors who go out and do this important work.”

There’s no evidence in the legislative record about what motivated lawmakers to impose the racial quota on the board, according to Ms. D'Agostino.

“We haven’t been able to find any evidence that would have necessitated this, or even come close to justifying any type of government interest” in the racial mandate, she said.

Optimistic

Ms. D’Agostino said she’s optimistic about the lawsuit’s prospects.

“We’re very excited about this because we’re passionate about these issues. We’re passionate about our initiative to challenge these quotas across the country. And we’re hoping to bring attention to our report to motivate legislators out there, and hopefully, to do away with these things so that [racial quotas are] never going to be considered as something that is justifiable.”

The attorney was referring to a report issued by PLF late last year titled “Public Service Denied: How Discriminatory Mandates Prevent Qualified Individuals from Serving on Public Boards,” which states that as many as 25 states have race- or sex-based quotas for public board appointments.

PLF reported that there were 63 boards in 14 states that enforced race- or sex-based appointments.

“All 63 mandates include race, while 32 also incorporate sex,” the report reads.

“Like the statewide mandates, most include language directing appointments to match the population of the state, a local area, or those served by the board. However, eight provisions go further and set a specific race quota. These quotas require one or more members to be of any racial minority, and in three instances, the minority must be black.”

The Louisiana State Board of Medical Examiners didn’t respond by press time to a request by The Epoch Times for comment.

Matt McGregor contributed to this article.