Doctors question report critical of state discipline

Benjamin Grove

Thursday, Sept. 5, 2002 | 11:18 a.m.

WASHINGTON -- Comments made by a watchdog group leader that the Nevada Board of Medical Examiners lets doctors "off the hook" for various offenses were not factual, several high-profile Nevada medical officials said.

"That's not true and/or accurate," said Robert Schreck, president of the Nevada State Medical Association. "Anybody who has serious problems has lost his license and is no longer practicing in the state of Nevada."

In its annual report, "Questionable Doctors," Washington-based consumer advocacy group Public Citizen said that most of the 124 doctors who had been disciplined by the state's board in the past 10 years continue practicing.

Meager punishments often did not match the seriousness of the offenses, said Public Citizen's Sidney Wolfe, a doctor and director of Public Citizen's Health Research Group.

That's simply not true, said Jaculine Jones, vice president of the board of medical examiners.

"We do an excellent job of going through every single complaint we get," Jones said.

The Public Citizen report unfairly generalizes, said Larry Matheis, executive director of the Nevada State Medical Association. An examination of the complex details of each case would reveal that disciplinary actions in most cases were fair, he said.

Wolfe's comments that the board "lets serious and sometimes repeat offenders off the hook" do not ring true, Matheis said.

"The only way Sid Wolfe sitting in Washington could know that would be to review the individual cases, and I know they didn't do that," Matheis said. "They just looked at the raw numbers ... and drew the conclusion they could have been a little tougher here."

Matheis said the problem in Nevada is not that the board is too lenient with the few offenders whose infractions are brought before the board; the problem is that the board is not more aggressive in uncovering abuses that are never reported, Matheis said.

"It sounds like (Public Citizen) really missed the point," Matheis said.

But in an interview, Wolfe defended his stance.

Wolfe cited examples of doctors who still practice in Nevada, including one who had falsified medical records, and another who had been found guilty of gross malpractice and "failure to exercise skill or diligence in general surgery." The second doctor's license was revoked but the revocation was later stayed.

State medical board often withdraw revocations under threat of lawsuits, Wolfe said.

The list of doctors disciplined in Nevada is available on Public Citizen's website, www.questionabledoctors.org. The information has always been public record, but the website offers a user-friendly format, Public Citizen officials say.

Nevada ranked No. 18 among states with 4.1 serious disciplinary actions per 1,000 doctors. Arizona ranked much higher with 10.5 actions, Wolfe said.

"If the (Nevada) Legislature wakes up and realizes its oversight role, it will realize that it has doctors practicing in the state that wouldn't be allowed to practice next door, and maybe something will be done," Wolfe said.