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

CONNECTICUT

1999 serious action rate: 1.78/1000 doctors
1999 ranking: 46th

In Connecticut, there were disciplinary actions reported against 244 doctors including 33 who were disciplined for substance abuse, 1 for misprescribing or overprescribing drugs, and 107 for substandard care, incompetence or negligence.

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 Division of Medical Quality Assurance supplied quarterly reports covering 1990 through 1999 as well as copies of some reports sent to the Federation of State Medical Boards. The information includes the physician's name, degree, license number, city and state of residence, date and type of action taken, and a brief description of the reason for the action. The reports contain information on modifications and terminations of board actions. Information on some court stays and appeals was also included, and Connecticut sent separate information on these actions.

The information provided covers disciplinary actions taken against allopathic physicians (MDs) only.

Besides disciplinary actions taken by the State Medical Board, 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 Connecticut or that match a physician disciplined by Connecticut are also included.

Connecticut Board Internet Address: http://www.state.ct.us/dph

This state has a web site which we have graded C 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, Connecticut took 23 serious disciplinary actions against MDs in 1999. Compared to the 12,910 MDs in the state, Connecticut had a serious disciplinary action rate of 1.78 serious actions per 1,000 MDs and a ranking of 46th on that list (see Table A).

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

Table 1. Disciplinary Actions Against MDs 1990 through 1999*
Action	Number	Percent**
Revocation	26	5.9%
Surrender	37	8.4%
Suspension	34	7.7%
Probation	106	24.1%
Practice Restriction	40	9.1%
Action Taken Against Controlled Substance License	12	2.7%
Other Actions	185	42.0%
Total Actions	440	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 were Disciplined 1990 through 1999*
Offense	Number	Percent
Criminal Conviction	0	0.0%
Sexual Abuse of or Sexual Misconduct with a Patient	0	0.0%
Substandard Care, Incompetence or Negligence	123	45.6%
Misprescribing or Overprescribing Drugs	1	0.4%
Substance Abuse	45	16.7%
Disciplinary Action Taken Against License by Another State or Agency	10	3.7%
Other Offenses	91	33.7%
Total Records With Offense Listed	270	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 Substandard Care, Incompetence or Negligence
Action	Number	Percent
Revocation	7	3.7%
Surrender	2	1.1%
Suspension	6	3.2%
Emergency Suspension	8	4.2%
Probation	53	28.0%
Practice Restriction	21	11.1%
Fine	24	12.7%
Reprimand	17	9.0%
Other Actions	51	27.0%
Total Actions	189	100.0%

Table 4. Disciplinary Actions Taken for Substance Abuse
Action	Number	Percent
Revocation	5	7.9%
Surrender	2	3.2%
Revocation, Surrender, or Suspension of Controlled Substance License	2	3.2%
Suspension	7	11.1%
Emergency Suspension	8	12.7%
Probation	19	30.2%
Restriction of Controlled Substance License	1	1.6%
Fine	1	1.6%
Required to Enter an Impaired Physician Program or Substance Abuse Treatment	1	1.6%
Other Actions	17	27.0%
Total Actions	63	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.

Address

Connecticut Department of Health
Debra Johnson, Health Program Associate
Physician Licensure Department
410 Capitol Ave.
PO Box 340308
Hartford, CT 06134-0308
(860) 509-7563

Internet Address: http://www.state.ct.us/dph