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

MAINE

1999 serious action rate: 3.44/1000 doctors
1999 ranking: 24th

In Maine, there were disciplinary actions reported against 127 doctors including 15 who were disciplined for substance abuse, 11 for misprescribing or overprescribing drugs, 7 for sexual abuse of or sexual misconduct with a patient, 10 for substandard care, incompetence or negligence and 5 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 Maine Board of Registration in Medicine sent lists of disciplinary actions covering 1990 through 1999. These list the physician's name, degree, date and type of action taken, and reason for the action. The listings contain information on modifications and terminations of board actions but not on court decisions affecting board actions. Maine sent us separate information on these actions.

The Maine Board of Osteopathic Licensure sent orders covering 1990 through 1999 that list the physician’s name, degree, date and type of action taken, and reason for the action. The orders contain information on modifications and terminations of board actions and on court decisions which affect 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 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 Maine or that match a physician disciplined by Maine are also included.

Maine Board Internet Address: http://www.docboard.org/me/me_home.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. The internet address for the Osteopathic Board is http://www.docboard/org/me-osteo . We did not rate osteopathic boards in our survey. 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, Maine took 11 serious disciplinary actions against MDs in 1999. Compared to the 3,195 MDs licensed in the state, Maine had a serious disciplinary action rate of 3.44 serious actions per 1,000 MDs and ranked 24th on that list (see Table A)

Table 1. Disciplinary Actions Against MDs and DOs July 1990 through December 1999*
Action	Number	Percent**
Revocation	5	2.8%
Surrender	21	11.9%
Suspension	12	6.8%
Probation	6	3.4%
Practice Restriction	11	6.2%
Action Taken Against Controlled Substance License	6	3.4%
Other Actions	116	65.5%
Total Actions	177	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 July 1990 through December 1999*
Offense	Number	Percent
Criminal Conviction	5	3.6%
Sexual Abuse of or Sexual Misconduct with a Patient	7	5.1%
Substandard Care, Incompetence or Negligence	11	8.0%
Misprescribing or Overprescribing Drugs	11	8.0%
Substance Abuse	20	14.5%
Disciplinary Action Taken Against License by Another State or Agency	18	13.0%
Other Offenses	66	47.8%
Total Records With Offense Listed	138	100%

* 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
Surrender	1	8.3%
Suspension	1	8.3%
Emergency Suspension	3	25.0%
Fine	1	8.3%
Reprimand	1	8.3%
Other Actions	5	41.7%
Total Actions	12	100.0%

Table 4. Disciplinary Actions Taken for Misprescribing or Overprescribing Drugs
Action	Number	Percent
Surrender	2	11.8%
Revocation, Surrender, or Suspension of Controlled Substance License	1	5.9%
Restriction of Controlled Substance License	3	17.6%
Fine	3	17.6%
Education	3	17.6%
Other Actions	5	29.4%
Total Actions	17	100.0%

Table 5. Disciplinary Actions Taken for Substance Abuse
Action	Number	Percent
Surrender	4	18.2%
Suspension	1	4.5%
Emergency Suspension	1	4.5%
Probation	1	4.5%
Fine	3	13.6%
Other Actions	12	54.5%
Total Actions	22	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
Maine Board of Licensure in Medicine
Randal C. Manning, Executive Director
137 State House Station
Augusta, ME 04333
(207) 287-3605

Internet Address: http://www.docboard.org/me/me_home.htm

Maine Board of Osteopathic Licensure
Susan E. Strout, Executive Secretary
142 State House Station
Augusta, ME 04333-0142
(207) 287-2480

Internet Address: http://www.docboard/org/me-osteo