Public Citizen, a watchdog group based in Washington, D.C., has sent letters to 33 state medical boards, urging them to investigate physicians who were disciplined by hospitals for varying reasons but not by the boards themselves, according to an Idaho Statesman report.
According to the report, Public Citizen relied on data from the National Practitioner Data Bank from 1990-2009 and discovered even though more than 10,000 physicians had their privileges revoked or restricted, less than half were disciplined by their respective state medical boards.
Of the more than 10,000 physicians whose privileges were revoked or restricted, 2,071 physicians lost privileges for "serious violations," including malpractice, substandard care and incompetence. Their respective medical boards, however, did not deliver any disciplinary action in those cases.
According to the report, Public Citizen relied on data from the National Practitioner Data Bank from 1990-2009 and discovered even though more than 10,000 physicians had their privileges revoked or restricted, less than half were disciplined by their respective state medical boards.
Of the more than 10,000 physicians whose privileges were revoked or restricted, 2,071 physicians lost privileges for "serious violations," including malpractice, substandard care and incompetence. Their respective medical boards, however, did not deliver any disciplinary action in those cases.
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