NATIONAL HARBOR, Md. -- Delegates passed an "emergency resolution" calling on the American Medical Association (AMA) to enlist an outside party to review the association's current approach to assessing and adjudicating claims of harassment, during the on Monday.
The resolution requires the AMA to establish a new process for addressing such issues, if outside consultants deem it necessary. Board of Trustees Chair Jack Resneck Jr., MD, said the board welcomed the resolution, and it was overwhelmingly adopted.
"Two years ago in Orlando, I was groped by a fellow delegate," explained resolution co-author Samantha Rosman, MD, an American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) delegate speaking on her own behalf.
After hearing similar stories from other women, Rosman felt compelled to bring her complaint to the AMA's leadership, she said. However, because she was not an AMA employee, she was told there wasn't a mechanism for dealing with her concern, Rosman said.
"[T]hey were sorry it happened, but it happened to a lot of women," Rosman said she was told.
Rosman then began writing a resolution "to force our AMA to deal with this issue." She said the board initially didn't want it introduced, but promised her that the AMA would bring forward a report on the topic. It was delayed, however, and she grew impatient.
"We are now 2 years out from this incident," she said, adding that the Council on Ethical and Judicial Affairs (CEJA) has since stated that it does not feel it is the right entity to address harassment complaints.
Melissa Garretson, MD, who co-authored the resolution with Rosman, said "there were multiple outcries of other harassment" in the last 2 years.
While Garretson, also an AAP delegate, acknowledged that the board has been working on the issue, many individuals expressed "discomfort" with the current process.
Put simply, "there hasn't been enough done," Garretson said.
Just prior to the emergency resolutions introduction, Resneck underscored the steps the AMA has already taken to address harassment, beginning with the adoption of comprehensive anti-harassment policy at the AMA's annual meeting in 2017, which extends the organization's "zero tolerance policy" to all delegates and other associates attending AMA functions.
He noted that under current policy, anyone wishing to file a complaint can do so either directly or anonymously and all complaints are investigated by the AMA which may engage outside resources.
Resneck acknowledged that was considered at the interim meeting but was not adopted. That report called for rescinding provisions of the designating the CEJA as the enforcers of disciplinary action.
He said the board supported the committee's decision not to adopt the report, "as it is critical to have a disciplinary function in place right now, moving forward, even if imperfect."
Also, the AMA's general counsel is already working with outside consultants to help improve the AMA's disciplinary process, he said.
"As board chair I am personally committed to getting this right," Resneck said.
Rosman, who said she had spoken with Resneck several times before introducing the emergency resolution, expressed support for his efforts.
"I fully trust Dr. Resneck and the board that they have been working hard on this," she said, but "some accountability" is still needed.
"We don't need to be embarrassed that this is happening in our house, it's happening everywhere in this country right now and women are finally speaking up. What we need to be embarrassed about is that we do not have [ways] to deal with it," Rosman said.
"We need outside consultation on how to deal with this and we need it to happen now," she stressed.
Kavita Arora, MD, a delegate of the Young Physicians Section from Cleveland Heights, Ohio, applauded the emergency resolution and urged its passage.
"Going back to our exam rooms, what would we do if we reached the limits of what we could offer the patient? We would seek a consult," she said, which is precisely the point of the resolution.
"Let's recognize that there's a problem and ask for help," she said. "We need to send a strong message to our members, our guests and our staff that we will not sweep this under the rug."
Arora stressed the need for urgency and transparency throughout that process, with a report back to the committee.