WEB SITE LISTS PROBLEM DOCTORS.Byline: Lisa M. Sodders Staff Writer California needs to be more aggressive in disciplining bad doctors, a consumer advocacy group said Wednesday as it released a list of 2,710 physicians who have been punished by the state. Public Citizen released its list of ``Questionable Doctors'' on its Web site - www.questionabledoctors.org - those who have been disciplined by state medical and osteopathic os·te·op·a·thy n. A system of medicine based on the theory that disturbances in the musculoskeletal system affect other bodily parts, causing many disorders that can be corrected by various manipulative techniques in conjunction with conventional boards and other agencies for incompetence, improperly prescribing medication, sexual misconduct sexual misconduct Professional ethics Any behavior that violates a health professional's ethics through sexual contact of physician and his/her Pt. See Professional boundaries. , criminal convictions, ethical lapses and other offenses. Dr. Sidney Wolfe, director of Public Citizen's Health Research Group, complained that most of the doctors on the group's list were not required to stop practicing, even temporarily. The Medical Board of California put them on probation rather than revoking their licenses to practice, he said. ``All too often, when a very serious offense is investigated and a decision to discipline a California-licensed doctor is made, the doctor is only put on probation, but the record from the medical board will state 'revocation stayed,''' Wolfe said. Over the 10-year period covered by Public Citizen's database, there were 864 disciplinary actions taken by the California board in which the record states ``revocation stayed.'' Candis Cohen cohen or kohen (Hebrew: “priest”) Jewish priest descended from Zadok (a descendant of Aaron), priest at the First Temple of Jerusalem. The biblical priesthood was hereditary and male. , spokeswoman for the board, said California has a higher burden of proof than other states do in proving negligence or incompetence. Instead of showing a mere ``preponderance of evidence A standard of proof that must be met by a plaintiff if he or she is to win a civil action. In a civil case, the plaintiff has the burden of proving the facts and claims asserted in the complaint. ,'' the medical board must provide ``clear and convincing evidence clear and convincing evidence n. evidence that proves a matter by the "preponderance of evidence" required in civil cases and beyond the "reasonable doubt" needed to convict in a criminal case. (See: beyond a reasonable doubt) to a reasonable certainty.'' Public Citizen's Web site allows people to access a list of disciplined doctors for free, but charges $10 for more-detailed information, which includes reports on up to 10 physicians in a three-month period. For one unidentified doctor, Wolfe said, the state's medical board's Web site (www.medbd.ca.gov) says only ``probation completed.'' But the Public Citizen site states that the doctor received a three-month license suspension, 57 months' probation for gross negligence An indifference to, and a blatant violation of, a legal duty with respect to the rights of others. Gross negligence is a conscious and voluntary disregard of the need to use reasonable care, which is likely to cause foreseeable grave injury or harm to persons, property, or , repeated negligence and incompetence in ob/gyn management of the delivery of twins, sexual relations sexual relations pl.n. 1. Sexual intercourse. 2. Sexual activity between individuals. with a female patient and alcohol addiction. But in a few months, Cohen said, the medical board's Web site could be providing the same kind of information for free, including malpractice settlement information with the physician's specialty and the size of the award. The board also hopes to provide misdemeanor convictions; any public information that might affect medical care, such as a doctor being required to register as a sex offender sex offender n. generic term for all persons convicted of crimes involving sex, including rape, molestation, sexual harassment and pornography production or distribution. ; and the names of physicians who are being considered for charges by the Attorney General's Office. To make sure the board's plan survives court challenges, the changes have been packaged in pending legislation sponsored by state Sen. Liz Figueroa, D-Fremont. The California Medical Association, on the other hand, said the proposed notification process might not be effective. ``We don't believe that displaying all the names All the Names (Portuguese: Todos os nomes) is a novel by Portuguese author José Saramago. It was written in 1997 and published in English in 2000 in an award winning translation by Margaret Jull Costa. of all the doctors who have settlements against them is the best way to alert consumers about bad doctors,'' said Karen Nikos, spokeswoman for the CMA CMA - Concert Multithread Architecture from DEC. . ``You can't look at just the settlements against the physician,'' Nikos added. ``That could mean that they're a very good doctor who does a lot of high-risk surgery and, as you know, anyone with 'x' amount of money can file a lawsuit. Frequently, people settle lawsuits to prevent having to go through a trial and that is not an indication of fault in most cases.'' |
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