A doctor who overbills a patient $65 can spend months and thousands of dollars going through an enforcement process to deal with something that is equivalent to a traffic ticket, he said.
But board members and agency staffers said the board enforces the rules as the Legislature has prescribed, following a process similar to what other regulatory agencies follow.
The board's mission is to protect the public, and the Legislature would not tolerate a board that didn't punish doctors, said board President Roberta Kalafut, an Abilene doctor.
Brown did not discuss his business partner, Bryan obstetrician/gynecologist Dr. Royal Benson III, who has a disciplinary action pending before the board. Brown did not think that calling the board to task for its enforcement practices presented a conflict of interest, he said.
"I don't understand why. I haven't shown up at any hearings with him," Brown said. "It's our job to represent the people in our district, whether they're friends, contributors or constituents."
A group of doctors, including Steven Hotze, who has a radio show in Houston, and Shirley Pigott in Victoria, whom the board disciplined in August for failing to release medical records to a patient in a timely manner, has complained loudly about the board.
The meeting was packed, mainly with doctors who think the board is "overenforcing" the law.
Dr. Roland Chalifoux, a former neurosurgeon in the Fort Worth area, said the board unfairly took his license after a patient died, forcing him to leave the state. If he is a danger to patients, he asked lawmakers, why is he allowed to teach and practice in Wheeling, W.Va.?
"I'm just sorry we lost you to West Virginia," said state Rep. Debbie Riddle, R-Tomball.
Kalafut said 99 percent of the doctors in Texas have not had a disciplinary action taken against them. At the same time, the board is receiving more complaints than ever, she said.
Mari Robinson, the agency's director of enforcement, said that she is aware that some minor violations could be handled more quickly and that the board plans to consider a rule in November to streamline the process. She said she hoped that certain minor violations could be dealt with in 30 to 60 days, leaving more time for more complicated and severe violations.
"We do understand the concern you're putting forth," Robinson said. "We're trying to fast-track this."
Brown applauded the concept and said he hoped it would be approved.
Subcommittee members challenged the board for taking anonymous complaints, which represent 3 percent of 6,893 complaints received in the last fiscal year.
They sharply questioned the board about former member Dr. Keith Miller, who resigned in August after a law was passed banning board members from acting as expert witnesses in malpractice cases. Before the law was passed, Miller told the board that he was an expert in one case, but he was an expert in numerous cases and stepped down to continue that work.
Alex Winslow, executive director of the nonprofit consumer group Texas Watch, said lawmakers need to focus on "patient safety, not physician expediency."
"In a world where patients have limited access to the legal system, we need to crack down on the few doctors who cause most of the problems," Winslow said.
