Sixty percent of doctors were placed on the New York medical malpractice watch list because of concerns about their professional conduct, regarding medical mistakes or patient complaints.
The other 40 percent were on the list because of alcohol or drug abuse, anger management, or mental health issues. The percentage of doctors being monitored in New York was twice the national average and seventh highest among all states.
The higher number of doctors reflect good programs not bad doctors. New York has a lower burden of proof than some other states for substantiating complaints against doctors and taking action against them.
Doctors are not being monitored because they jaywalked. Doctors are being monitored because of substance abuse, sexual abuse, or misconduct. Patients should know that in advance before going to see their doctor.
If the board decides the doctor should be monitored, the supervision can take a number of forms. In some cases, monitoring follows a temporary suspension of a license. Doctors are typically monitored for three years if they have a professional conduct problem and for five years for impairment.
A recent report found that serious disciplinary actions from revocations to suspensions of licenses were declining nationwide at medical boards.
Source: NY TIMES
Monday, May 12, 2008
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
0 comments:
Post a Comment