Bad doctors get slapped on the wrist
- From: "Jim Higgins" <gordian238@xxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Fri, 1 Sep 2006 06:03:58 -0400
Bad doctors get slapped on the wrist
http://www.usatoday.com/news/health/2006-08-30-bad-doctors_x.htm
Doctors who commit crimes often escape harsh professional punishment by
state and federal agencies, according to a study of 2,247 physicians
disciplined for criminal conduct between 1990 and 1999.
Boards are particularly light on doctors who have committed insurance fraud
and who have been involved in crimes related to drugs, including prescribing
violations and substance abuse, says the report from Public Citizen, a
Washington, D.C.-based watchdog group. The study appears in Health Matrix,
published by Case Western Reserve University School of Law in Cleveland.
But doctors convicted of violent crimes such as rape, assault and murder
generally do face harsh discipline - such as having their licenses revoked -
from medical boards, the report states. Even so, "there are people with
serious criminal records who wind up practicing," says Public Citizen's
Peter Lurie, an author of the article.
The problem is compounded by the fact that not all states make it easy to
find out if disciplinary action has been taken against a doctor, Lurie says.
"In many cases the patients don't know ... the doctor's criminal record," he
says.
The report says 36.2% of physicians who were involved in prescription
violations and/or use, possession or distribution of controlled substances
faced only "wrist-slap" punishments, such as fines, reprimands and mandatory
educational programs. Of the doctors disciplined for Medicare, Medicaid and
insurance fraud, 67.2% received minor punishments.
On the other hand, of physicians convicted of rape, sexual assault, sexual
misconduct, indecency with a child, public indecency or any sex-related
crimes, only 6.4% received such light disciplinary action.
The report says many of the state boards are composed of physicians who are
not harsh enough when they mete out punishment. "The general temptation on
these boards is to give the doctor another bite at the apple," Lurie says.
"There's a lot of emphasis on the procedural rights of the doctors and much
less on the safety concerns of the patients."
One example given by study authors was the case of a California emergency
doctor who was convicted of felony possession of cocaine. He received
probation and is licensed to practice medicine.
But the chairman of the American Medical Association says Public Citizen has
not proven its case. The report also shows that very few physicians are
involved in criminal activities - far less than 1% - and that medical boards
tend to be most harsh when it comes to crimes that involve patients, says
Cecil Wilson, an internist in Winter Park, Fla.
"Any bad doctor is one doctor too many, and we need to identify them and
take corrective action as soon as possible," Wilson says. He contends that
the study numbers show that the boards do their job.
"Everyone who comes (before a medical board) because of a criminal activity
doesn't receive the same punishment for reasons that there are different
degrees of infraction that deserve different levels of discipline," Wilson
says. "It's not clear from this study that they've made a case that these
boards are not being sufficiently strict on physicians."
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