Texas Gov. Greg Abbott signed a bill into law June 13 aimed at improving patient safety by closing a longstanding loophole that allowed an infamous physician to keep practicing despite concerns of harm being done to patients, NBC affiliate KXAN reported.
The physician, nicknamed Dr. Death, was sentenced to life in prison in 2017 after being found guilty of harming or killing more than 30 patients. Despite concerns and because of gaps in reporting and monitoring in the National Practitioner Data Bank, he was allowed to continue practicing at multiple locations before his arrest.
The new bill, HB 1998, seeks to equip the Texas Medical Board with necessary tools to protect patients from dangerous physicians while also maintaining transparency about physician disciplinary records.
Here's what else the new law will enforce:
- Lying on medical license applications will be a Class A misdemeanor.
- Physicians who have been convicted of a felony or misdemeanor related to moral turpitude are not allowed to practice medicine in the state.
- Physicians who have had a medical license revoked, restricted or suspended in another state are not allowed to practice medicine in the state.
- Monthly monitoring of physicians will be required using the National Practitioner Data Bank — which KXAN describes as "a confidential clearinghouse of all physician complaints, established by Congress." The complaints are not publicly available.
- The Texas Medical Board must update physician profiles on its website within 10 days of being notified about any disciplinary action against a physician.
Becker's reached out to the Texas Medical Board for its comment on the passage of the legislation and will update this story if new information is provided.