So, you or a family member have been hurt by medical malpractice. What should you do?
Should you report the health care provider who harmed you to your state’s medical board? Public Citizen has reported, “Given the observed wide variation in serious disciplinary actions taken per 1,000 physicians across states and the District of Columbia, many if not most, state medical boards are doing a dangerously lax job in enforcing their states’ medical practice acts. Low rates of serious disciplinary actions suggest that medical boards are not adequately taking actions to discipline physicians responsible for negligent medical care or whose behavior is unacceptably dangerous to patients.”
Can you trust the recommendation of family or freinds, or that a doctor participates in your health insurer’s network, to find competent doctors? ProPublica reports, “Doctors can be disciplined for criminal convictions, medical negligence, wrongly prescribing controlled substances and other wrongdoing. Even with a disciplinary record, many doctors continue to practice, some even changing states to do so. Although hospitals have access to a federal database to look up the disciplinary histories of doctors in every state, the public cannot access it.”
The National Practitioner Data Bank (NPDB) is a centralized database that is overseen by the United States Department of Health and Human Services that pools reports of medical malpractice and other aversive actions taken against health care workers. Information is submitted to NPDB by agencies such as hospitals, state licensing boards, and medical malpractice insurance companies. However, a patient who believes that a doctor committed malpractice cannot file a report with the NPDB! The records that the NPDB compile are healthcare-related criminal convictions and civil judgments (i.e., medical malpractice), final decisions rendered by licensure and certification actions, and other adjudicated actions rendered. Information contained in the database is utilized to make employment decisions, track a physician’s records as well as aid in medical privileging. The records contained in NPDB are protected and only authorized users (i.e., hospitals or state licensure board) considering a physician can obtain the record via a query. A patient cannot access NPDB reports!
Can we trust the reports in the NPDB? In November 2000, the United States General Accounting Office stated in a report entitled Major Improvements Are Needed to Enhance Data Bank’s Reliability: “Quantifying and reducing underreporting to NPDB are admittedly difficult, but without a coherent strategy for systematically addressing the areas of greatest significance, agency efforts may continue to be ineffective. While NPDB is presently the nation’s only central source of medical malpractice payment information, it is not clear that all such data are being properly reported. Underreporting of clinical privilege restrictions is another area of particular concern because these reports are seen as better indicators of professional competence and involve events far more recent than medical malpractice settlements and judgments. However, HRSA only recently requested that HHS seek the additional legislative authority that the HHS/OIG recommended as necessary for addressing noncompliance by hospitals and other health care providers. Even more troubling is HRSA’s failure to implement the law regarding nurses and other practitioners, despite their increasing importance in the delivery of health care services.”
So, back to the original question: what should you do if you or a family member may be the victim of medical malpractice?
If you or a family member may have been harmed as a result of medical malpractice anywhere in the United States, you should promptly find a medical malpractice lawyer in your state who may investigate your medical malpractice claim for you and represent you or your family member in a medical malpractice case, if appropriate.
Click on the “Contact Us Now” tab to the right, visit our website, or call us toll-free in the United States at 800-295-3959 to find medical malpractice attorneys in your state who may assist you.
Turn to us when you don’t know where to turn.