nationalcover.gif (12529 bytes)DELAWARE

 

1999 serious action rate: .96/1000 doctors
1999 ranking: 51st

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In Delaware, there were disciplinary actions reported against 30 doctors including 1 who was disciplined for substance abuse, 1 for sexual abuse of or sexual misconduct with a patient, 2 for substandard care, incompetence or negligence and 3 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 Delaware Board of Medical Practice sent notices of disciplinary actions which took place from 1990 through 1999. The information includes the physician's name, degree, license number, address, date and type of action taken, and the reason for the action. The reports contain no information on modifications and terminations of board actions or on court decisions affecting board actions.

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

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 Delaware or that match a physician disciplined by Delaware are also included.

BS00024A.gif (1893 bytes) This state does not currently have a web site. 

For information on state medical board web sites, you may want to review 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, Delaware issued 2 serious disciplinary action against MDs or DOs in 1999. Compared to the 2,092 MDs licensed in the state, Delaware had a serious disciplinary action rate of 0.96 serious actions per 1,000 MDs, placing them 51st in that ranking (see Table A).

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

Table 1. Disciplinary Actions Against MDs and DOs 1990 through 1999*

Action

Number

Percent**

Revocation

6 13.6%

Surrender

4 9.1%

Suspension

9 20.5%

Probation

7 15.9%

Practice Restriction

6 13.6%

Action Taken Against Controlled Substance License

 0 0.0%

Other Actions

12 27.3%
Total Actions 44

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

3 10.7%

Sexual Abuse of or Sexual Misconduct with a Patient

1 3.6%

Substandard Care, Incompetence or Negligence

2 7.1%

Misprescribing or Overprescribing Drugs

0 0.0%

Substance Abuse

1 3.6%

Disciplinary Action Taken Against License by Another State or Agency

2 7.1%

Other Offenses

19 67.9%

Total Records With Offense Listed

28

100.0%

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

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
Delaware Board of Medical Practice
Brenda Petty-Ball, Executive Director
861 Silver Lake Blvd., Suite 203
Dover, DE 19904
(302) 739-4522