Public Citizen's Health Research Group: Questionable Doctors: Arizona

ARIZONA

1999 serious action rate: 3.81/1000 doctors
1999 ranking: 21st

In Arizona, there were disciplinary actions reported against 587 doctors including 82 who were disciplined for substance abuse, 43 for misprescribing or overprescribing drugs, 11 for sexual abuse of or sexual misconduct with a patient, 75 for substandard care, incompetence or negligence and 13 who were convicted of a crime.

This web site provides aggregate national and state data on doctor discipline. Names of those doctors and their offenses are NOT included on the site. Web sites with such information need to be frequently updated and we cannot do this because of limited staff and resources available to continually monitor the information that we receive from the 51 MD and 14 DO licensing boards and the federal government. This website does provide direct links to the web sites of those boards that have information available on the internet.

Detailed information on specific doctors who have been disciplined is included in the book which can be purchased in regional editions for $20. The book includes disciplinary actions taken against doctors from 1990 through December 1999.

The Arizona State Board of Medical Examiners sent copies of disciplinary orders for 1990 and minutes of the Arizona Board meetings from 1991 through 1999. The orders include the physician's name, degree, license number, the date and type of action taken and the reason for the action. The meeting minutes list the physician's name, degree, license number, the date and type of action taken, and the reason for the action. The reports contain information on modifications and terminations of board actions and some minimal information on court decisions affecting board actions. Arizona also sent separate information on these actions.

One hundred and ten doctors in Arizona were placed on rehabilitation contracts. The Board designated this as not a disciplinary action based on their interpretation of the Americans With Disabilities Act. Public Citizen felt that it was important to include this information for Arizona consumers. Therefore, these doctors are listed separately at the end of the Arizona physicians' listing.

The Arizona Board of Osteopathic Examiners sent copies of disciplinary orders for 1990 through 1999. The orders include the physician's name, degree, license number, addresses (for orders after April 1993), date and type of action taken and the reason for the action. The orders contain information on modifications and terminations of board actions but not on court decisions affecting board actions. Arizona sent separate information on these actions.

The information provided covers disciplinary actions taken against allopathic physicians (MDs) and osteopathic physicians (DOs).

Besides disciplinary actions taken by the State Medical Boards, this listing also includes actions taken by the Medicare/Medicaid programs, the FDA, and the DEA against physicians located in this state. Disciplinary actions taken by other states against physicians located in Arizona or that match a physician disciplined by Arizona are also included.

Arizona Board Internet Address: http://www.docboard.org/bomex/index.htm

This state has a web site which we have graded B on a scale of A (best) to X (worst) as part of our February 2000 Survey of Doctor Disciplinary Information on State Medical Board Web Sites. This grade is a measure of the completeness of the information on disciplined doctors. Those state licensing boards with web sites make independent choices about the type of information to be included on their site and how often it is updated.

According to the Federation of State Medical Boards, Arizona took 42 serious disciplinary actions against MDs in 1999. Compared to the 11,025 MDs licensed in the state, the Board had a serious disciplinary action rate of 3.81 serious actions per 1,000 MDs and ranked 21st on that list (see Table A).

The tables below summarize the data Public Citizen received from Arizona.

Table 1. Disciplinary Actions Against MDs and DOs 1990 through 1999*
Action	Number	Percent**
Revocation	65	6.9%
Surrender	8	0.9%
Suspension	89	9.4%
Probation	177	18.8%
Practice Restriction	114	12.1%
Action Taken Against Controlled Substance License	36	3.8%
Other Actions	453	48.1%
Total Actions	942	100.0%

* This table lists only the two most serious disciplinary actions taken against a physician.
** Percentages may not total 100% due to rounding.

Table 2. Offenses for which MDs and DOs were Disciplined 1990 through 1999*
Offense	Number	Percent
Criminal Conviction	13	2.3%
Sexual Abuse of or Sexual Misconduct with a Patient	12	2.1%
Substandard Care, Incompetence or Negligence	82	14.7%
Misprescribing or Overprescribing Drugs	43	7.7%
Substance Abuse	96	17.2%
Disciplinary Action Taken Against License by Another State or Agency	66	11.8%
Other Offenses	247	44.2%
Total Records With Offense Listed	559	100.0%

* Includes only those actions for which an offense was listed and for which we had a corresponding term in our database.

Table 3. Disciplinary Actions Taken for Sexual Abuse of or Sexual Misconduct with a Patient
Action	Number	Percent
Revocation	3	20.0%
Suspension	3	20.0%
Probation	2	13.3%
Other Actions	7	46.7%
Total Actions	15	100.0%

Table 4. Disciplinary Actions Taken for Substandard Care, Incompetence or Negligence
Action	Number	Percent
Revocation	3	3.7%
Suspension	1	1.2%
Probation	21	25.9%
Practice Restriction	13	16.0%
Fine	3	3.7%
Reprimand	12	14.8%
Other Actions	28	34.6%
Total Actions	81	100.0%

Table 5. Disciplinary Actions Taken for Criminal Conviction
Action	Number	Percent
Revocation	6	35.3%
Suspension	2	11.8%
Emergency Suspension	1	5.9%
Probation	4	23.5%
Fine	3	17.6%
Other Actions	1	5.9%
Total Actions	17	100.0%

Table 6. Disciplinary Actions Taken for Misprescribing or Overprescribing Drugs
Action	Number	Percent
Revocation	2	3.3%
Revocation, Surrender, or Suspension of Controlled Substance License	1	1.6%
Suspension	3	4.9%
Emergency Suspension	2	3.3%
Probation	12	19.7%
Restriction of Controlled Substance License	8	13.1%
Fine	2	3.3%
Education	17	27.9%
Other Actions	14	23.0%
Total Actions	61	100.0%

Table 7. Disciplinary Actions Taken for Substance Abuse
Action	Number	Percent
Revocation	2	1.2%
Suspension	12	7.1%
Emergency Suspension	2	1.2%
Probation	37	22.0%
Restriction of Controlled Substance License	8	4.8%
Fine	1	0.6%
Required to Enter an Impaired Physician Program or Substance Abuse Treatment	55	32.7%
Other Actions	51	30.4%
Total Actions	41	100.0%

If you feel that your doctor has not given you proper medical care or has mistreated you in any way--whether or not he or she is listed in this report--it is important that you let your state medical board know. Even if they do not immediately act on your complaint, it is important that the information be recorded in their files because it is possible that other people may have filed or will file complaints about the same doctor. Send a brief written description of what occurred to the addresses below or call the phone numbers listed for more information on how to file a complaint.

Addresses
Arizona State Board of Medical Examiners
Mark R. Speicher, Executive Director
9545 East Doubletree Ranch Road
Scottsdale, AZ 85258-5539
(480) 551-2700
Fax: (480) 551-2704

Internet Address: http://www.docboard.org/bomex/index.htm

Arizona Board of Osteopathic Examiners in Medicine and Surgery
Anne Marie Berger, Executive Secretary
9545 East Doubletree Ranch Road
Scottsdale, AZ 85258
(480) 657-7703