Physicians, Medication Errors: Over 20,000 Doctors Commit Medical Errors
May 12, 2001
Each year over 20,000 doctors commit medical errors, some intentionally. Public Citizen Health Research Group released the report, "Questionable Doctors," in order to inform the public of the frequency of medical mistakes. "It's worrisome that you can get more information on unsafe cars than unsafe doctors who cause thousands of injuries and deaths each year," says Public Citizen's Sidney Wolfe. The report lists 547 doctors who were sanctioned for sex-related offenses, 3,215 for incompetence, negligence or providing substandard care and 2,963 who were convicted of various crimes.
Public Citizen gathered data from various state agencies. Such agencies regulate and discipline over 770,000 doctors nationwide. Public Citizen says that the "Questionable Doctors" report is necessary because the Federal government refuses to make public its database of problem doctors. The Federal database, called the National Practitioner Data Bank, contains information on over 100,000 doctors cited for disciplinary infractions and malpractice suits.
The National Practitioner Data Bank was established 10 years ago and made secret at the request of the American Medical Association (AMA) because the group feared doctors would be unfairly targeted because of their past record. "Unrestricted public access would lead to unfair scrutiny of some of our nation's most talented physicians," AMA past president Thomas Reardon told a recent congressional hearing. However, Congress may consider a law that would open the data bank to the public. "Patients have a right to know whether their doctors have a history of malpractice payments, disciplinary sanctions or criminal convictions," says Pete Sheffield, spokesman for Rep. Thomas Bliley, R.-Va.
-- Article Courtesy of InjuryBoard.com
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