U.S. Congress to consider opening doctor databank

From staff and wire reports

(CNN) -- The U.S. Congress is to consider legislation that would give the public access to the federal data bank that tracks the records of health care providers. Patients would be able to examine the government's Practitioner Data Bank of practicing physicians, including malpractice judgements and disciplinary actions taken against them.

Massachusetts opened its files with the Physician Profiles Program, supported by doctors. It gives consumers the addresses and specialties of physicians, in addition to information about outstanding complaints, or malpractice lawsuits. The profiles are available over the Internet.

RESOURCES See the current version of the National Practitioner Data Bank     MESSAGE BOARD Should the doctor database be available to the public?

"It fosters good communication," said Nancy Achin Sullivan, of the Massachusetts Board of Medicine, "and I think it makes it OK for patients to ask those questions that very polite people would not ask ordinarily -- 'Have you ever been sued for malpractice? Did anyone ever prevail? What did you learn from that?'"

As many as 98,000 patients die each year in the United States as a result of medical mistakes, according to the Institute of Medicine, but not all of them are caused by doctors.

Currently, only hospitals, HMO's and state medical boards can access the federal government site, which indicates whether a doctor has been sued or disciplined. The government provides a public version of the database but strips out doctors' and dentists' names and other identifying information.

Critics point to remarkable stories, such as the one Liana Gedz recently outlined for lawmakers on Capitol Hill.

"I delivered a girl in Beth Israel hospital by emergency caesarian. After the completion of the surgery, Doctor Allan Zarkin carved his initials in my abdomen."

For five months, until Gedz's story was told in the press, her physician continued to practice, even though he had been suspended from the hospital.

"We know more about the snack food that we eat than we do about our physicians," said Republican Rep. Thomas Bliley of Virginia, who is introducing the legislation to open the records.

The American Medical Association counters that, unlike the system in Massachusetts, the federal database shows only the bad.

"The fact that a physician is disciplined does not make them a bad doctor. They can be practicing a very high quality of medicine, very competent, and yet can be disciplined for a number of issues," explained Dr. Thomas Reardon, the immediate past president of the American Medical Association.

The AMA has long opposed public release of the data bank information.

But critics argue that the current debate would be unnecessary if the medical profession did not raise what they term a "wall of silence" around itself. Consumer advocates say the secrecy is designed the protect the doctor from the public, rather than the other way around.

CNN Medical Correspondent Eileen O'Connor and The Associated Press contributed to this report.

House chairman readies legislation to open doctor disciplinary records
August 29, 2000
Lawmakers consider opening database on doctors to public
March 1, 2000
Proposed bills would restrict access to medical records
April 27, 1999

American Medical Association
Massachusetts Physician Profiles

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