Med Mal News

On April 19, consumer advocacy group Public Citizen released its ranking of state medical boards, which was based on data from the Federation of State Medical Boards (FSMB) that tallied the number of disciplinary actions taken against doctors in the years 2002-2004. States that disciplined doctors most often were ranked higher than those with fewer disciplinary actions, on the theory that doctors are making mistakes everywhere but that some states turn a blind eye while others do not. Hawaii, with 1.44 actions per 1000 physicians, was ranked lowest, followed by Delaware, Wisconsin, Minnesota and Maryland. Wyoming, with 10.04 serious actions per 1000 physicians, was ranked highest, followed by Kentucky, North Dakota, Alaska and Oklahoma. In a statement issued by the group, Dr. Sidney Wolfe, director of Public Citizen's Health Research Group, said, “These data again raise serious questions about the extent to which patients in many of these states with poorer records of serious doctor discipline are being protected from physicians who might well be barred from practice in states with boards that are doing a better job of disciplining physicians. It is quite possible that patients are being injured or killed more often in states with poor doctor disciplinary records than in states with consistently high performance.”