Editorial: Look ahead, look away

Tuesday, Dec. 18, 2007 | 7:08 a.m.

In a series of stories this fall, Sun reporter Marshall Allen described how dozens of foreign doctors were exploited by their Nevada bosses - other doctors who operate clinics in areas categorized as "medically needy."

The foreign doctors are enrolled in a federal-state program that allows them to gain U.S. residency if they work 40 hours a week for three years in a needy area. They were often overworked and were even assigned to hospitals to treat insured patients while they were supposed to be working at clinics serving the poor.

Allen described how many of the foreign doctors feared losing their chance for citizenship and endured the exploitation rather than report it.

Rightly, the stories caught the attention of officials with the Nevada State Health Division, who last week vowed to increase oversight of the program. Wrongly, however, the officials decided not to investigate and take action.

One official said, "We've heard things have happened ... but really we want to look ahead and learn from our past."

It is disappointing that the state is taking this familiar attitude toward behavior that smells of corruption. Any doctor found to have abused this program should face serious discipline.