Rev. Ronald V. Myers, Sr., M.D.
Baptist Medical Missionary & Family Practitioner
Myers Foundation Christian Family Health Centers
P.O. Box 269 Belzoni, MS 39038
662-392-2016 662-247-1471 662-247-4767 Fax
e-mail: JuneteenthDOC@yahoo.com web site: www.MyersFoundation.net
May 11, 2015
Attorney General Loretta Lynch
U.S. Department of Justice
950 Pennsylvania Avenue
Washington, DC 20530-0001
RE: Over Prosecution of African American Physicians by Law Enforcement
Dear Atty. General Lynch:
The over prosecution of black physicians by law enforcement has hit home with me in Mississippi. I am unable to work at the Delta Health Center in Mound Bayou in the Mississippi Delta because my Mississippi DEA certificate is being held up. This was because of unfair and discriminatory action taken against me by the Oklahoma Board of Narcotics (OBNDD) and the Oklahoma DEA earlier this year (www.americanpaininstitute.org – www.painpatientscoalition.com).
As one of the leading grass roots advocates for chronic pain treatment in America, I cannot begin to express to you my anger with how I have been mistreated as an activist and black physician by law enforcement over this entire situation. I consider myself a victim of a black medical Ferguson. Even the Oklahoma County District Attorney’s office considers me a victim of fraud. Racism is real in our criminal justice system.
I have not been arrested or accused of any criminal violations. The punishment levied against me by the OBNDD is not justified. I am being blamed for the actions of three other white physicians at the clinic where I was employed for several years.
The decision on when I can receive my DEA certificate rest solely with the DEA.
As our new Attorney General, it appears that you are seriously dealing with the misgivings of law enforcement and the black community. I urge you to also consider the over prosecution of black physicians by law enforcement and the Department of Justice (DOJ).
The late Frank McCune, M.D., M.B.A., Chairman of the National Juneteenth Medical Commission, the late Atty. and Mayor of Jackson, Mississippi, Chokwe Lumumba and I conducted a panel discussion at the National Medical Association (NMA) regional conference in 2012 concerning the over prosecution of black physicians by law enforcement and the DOJ.
I have enclosed a letter to Michelle Marie Leonhart, Administrator of the DEA, requesting that my DEA certificate in Mississippi not be held up in order for me to provide health care to the poorest of the poor in America. I also expressed to her my concern over the injustice of my situation in Oklahoma.
Because of the unrest in Baltimore, the country is focusing on the injustice of the treatment of African Americans black males by law enforcement. I believe it is also the time to deal with the situation for black physicians in America.
If I can assist you in any way concerning the over prosecution of black physicians by the DOJ, I will be happy to make myself available.
Thank you for your consideration of this important matter.
Sincerely,
Rev. Ronald V. Myers, Sr., M.D.
cc: Lawrence Sanders, M.D., President, National Medical Association (NMA)
enclosures
1. Letter to DEA Administrator Michelle Marie Leonhart (dated 5/11/15)
2. Copy of letter from Oklahoma County District Attorney’s Office (dated 8/25/14)
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