Medical Negligence - Do we know anything about our physicians

Rob Quattrocci

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Attempting to find information on a physician is very difficult as the majority of the information is kept confidential by the state regulators. Even when a physician commits a horrible act in one State they sometimes can continue to practice in another. Recently a physician in Minnesota, who was suspended years ago, was discovered practicing medicine and being paid by pharmaceutical companies to test drugs which involved clinical trials with patients.

The article indicates that:

"Investigators are selected based on qualifications, training, research or clinical expertise in relevant fields." Yet Dr. Abuzzahab is far from the only doctor to have been disciplined or criticized by a medical board but later paid by drug makers.

An analysis of state records by The New York Times found more than 100 such doctors in Minnesota, at least two with criminal fraud convictions. While Minnesota is the only state to make its records publicly available, the problem, experts say, is national.

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/06/03/health/03docs.html?ei=5070&en=0c5a6a50ce4c3cd8&ex=1181448000&adxnnl=1&emc=eta1&adxnnlx=1180965712-tZslzdpD0T7SNp0Xp/oCcw

The public should insist on all states making the physician's disciplinary records public so that we can protect ourselves and our loved ones.