Dive Brief:
- Consumer Reports has published a new report that delves into the details around California physicians who are on probation but still practicing medicine.
- The report provides specific examples of disturbing errors based on information not available to patients, and raises the question of what it takes or physicians to actually get their medical licenses suspended or revoked.
- The report states that of the 1.25 million physicians who have been licensed throughout the U.S., since 1990, about 192,000, or 15% have had at least one malpractice payout.
Dive Insight:
The probe comes with the explosion of interest in transparency in healthcare, but didn't come easily. Consumer Reports got its information from the National Practitioner Data Bank (NPDB), which is maintained by the state Department of Health and Human Services, but is normally only available to hospitals, law enforcement and other groups, the report says.
Among the episodes publicly revealed through the report were a physician who removed the incorrect ovary from a patient; a physician's oversight of a bone fracture that led to a leg amputation; and a pediatrician disciplined more than a dozen times for being under the influence of drugs.
Consumer Reports says it had unsuccessfully petitioned California’s medical board in the past to require physicians on probation to disclose that to their patients.
The publication's analysis is part of its new Safe Patient Project, with medicine being a new foray for the company that has previously been known for its product reviews.