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Important News You Need to Know About Medical Malpractice, Motor Vehicle Accidents and Serious Injuries in Virginia and Washington D.C.

9 Out of 10 People Believe Medical Malpractice Information Should Be Public

Posted on Dec 15, 2011

DC medical malpractice cases may get harder to prove. The recent disclosure of a doctor’s medical malpractice history could make physicians’ work histories unavailable to the public.

In September 2011, the Department of Health and Human Services came under fire after a doctor’s history of malpractice claims was published in a newspaper article. The reporter of the story had come by the information legally, using the doctor’s court records and information on the National Practitioners Data Bank, a public use file available through the HHS. The doctor sent a complaint to the HHS—and in response, the Department revoked public access to the NPDB.

When public access to the database was restored last week, HHS had placed new limitations on the use of the information, including mandatory consent that information from the National Practitioners Data Bank will not be used to identify doctors who have a history of disciplinary actions or malpractice claims.

Lisa McGiffert, director of Consumers Union’s Safe Patient Project, believes these restrictions are trying to undermine the purpose of “public information.”

“When information held by the government is declared ‘public’ there should be no strings attached to the use of that data,” McGiffert said.

Many Americans would seem to agree with McGiffert. A Consumer Reports National Research Center poll found that 88% of respondents support public access to federal information about a doctor’s care history, including any disciplinary action or medical malpractice suits.

“The public should have the same access to this information as hospitals and state licensing boards,” said McGiffert. “It’s time to provide the public full access to this critical information, including the names of doctors who have been disciplined by state licensing boards or sued for failing to provide safe care.”