Not that this story is news but the Roanoke Times ran an article recently which was also published in USA Today. The article was titled, “Many Doctors Don’t Blow Whistle on Colleagues” and was based upon a study published by the Journal of the America Medical Association.
The results of the study were disappointing: The study found many American physicians fail to report troubled colleagues to authorities, believing that someone else will take care of it, that nothing will happen if they act, or that they could be targeted for retribution.
Just how big of a problem? 17% of the doctors surveyed had direct, personal knowledge of an impaired or incompetent physician in their workplaces, said the study’s lead author, Catherine DesRoches of Harvard Medical School.
My Take: I am always amazed by those who claim the medical profession can “police” their own members and that medical malpractice cases, which hold healthcare professionals accountable, are unnecessary. Obviously, the medical profession, for whatever reasons, is incapable of protecting the public from incompetent or impaired physicians.