nationalcover.gif (12529 bytes)NEW HAMPSHIRE

 

1999 serious action rate: 4.231/1000 doctors
1999 ranking: 18th

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In New Hampshire, there were disciplinary actions reported against 91 doctors including 13 who were disciplined for substance abuse, 4 for misprescribing or overprescribing drugs, 3 for sexual abuse of or sexual misconduct with a patient, 2 for substandard care, incompetence or negligence and 2 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 New Hampshire Board of Registration in Medicine provided a list of actions taken and charges against physicians from 1990 through 1999 and newsletters listing 1994 through 1999 actions and a listing. The information listed the physician's name, degree, the date and type of action taken, the reason for the action, and the status of any judicial review. The listings include some information on modifications and terminations of board 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 New Hampshire state or that match to a physician disciplined by New Hampshire are also included.

BS00024A.gif (1893 bytes) New Hampshire Board Internet Address:  http://www.state.nh.us/medicine

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, New Hampshire took 14 serious disciplinary actions against MDs in 1999. Compared to the 3,309 MDs in the state, New Hampshire had a serious disciplinary action rate of 4.23 per 1,000 MDs and ranked 18th on that list (see Table A).

The tables below summarize the data Public Citizen received from New Hampshire.

Table 1. Disciplinary Actions Against MDs 1990 through 1999*

Action

Number

Percent**

Revocation

12

10.3%

Surrender

12

10.3%

Suspension

14

12.0%

Probation

5

4.3%

Practice Restriction

22

18.8%

Action Taken Against Controlled Substance License

3

2.6%

Other Actions

49

41.9%

Total Actions

117

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

2

2.6%

Sexual Abuse of or Sexual Misconduct with a Patient

3

3.8%

Substandard Care, Incompetence or Negligence

2

2.6%

Misprescribing or Overprescribing Drugs

4

5.1%

Substance Abuse

13

16.7%

Disciplinary Action Taken Against License by Another State or Agency

14

17.9%

Other Offenses

40

51.3%

Total Records With Offense Listed

78

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 Substance Abuse

Action

Number

Percent

Suspension

1

5.9%

Emergency Suspension

1

5.9%

Probation

3

17.6%

Other Actions

12

70.6%

Total Actions

17

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
State of New Hampshire Board of Medicine
Lawrence O'Connell, President
2 Industrial Park Drive, Suite 8
Concord, NH 03301-8520
(603) 271-1203
Fax: (603) 271-6702

Internet Address: http://www.state.nh.us/medicine