CALIFORNIA
PR Newswire
NEWS PROVIDED BY
Consumer Watchdog
Apr 24, 2018
SACRAMENTO, Calif., April 24, 2018 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ — Doctors on probation for sexually assaulting their patients and for other serious misconduct causing patient harm would be required to disclose this to their patients under SB 1448 (Hill), which passed out of the Senate Business and Professions Committee on Monday with bipartisan support.
“It’s time to lift the veil of secrecy around physician sexual assault and other serious patient harm. Only a small number of the most egregious cases of misconduct result in a doctor being placed on probation every year. Patients have a right to know so they can make informed medical decisions and be able to protect themselves. We applaud the Senators for placing patient safety above protecting doctors,” said Carmen Balber, executive director of Consumer Watchdog.
An average of 124 doctors are placed on probation every year in California, for reasons ranging from sexual assault, to overprescribing narcotics to gross negligence that causes a patient death. Doctors are required to tell their insurance company and the hospital or clinic where they work when their conduct lands them on probation, but their patients are kept in the dark. Although California mandates that doctor disciplinary information be disclosed online, the requirement is meaningless to patients who don’t know they should look, said Consumer Watchdog.
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