Public Citizen's Health Research Group: Questionable Doctors: North Dakota

NORTH DAKOTA

1999 serious action rate: 8.77/1000 doctors
1999 ranking: 2nd

In North Dakota, there were disciplinary actions reported against 106 doctors including 11 who were disciplined for substance abuse, 6 for misprescribing or overprescribing drugs, 3 for sexual abuse of or sexual misconduct with a patient, 11 for substandard care, incompetence or negligence and 4 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 North Dakota State Board of Medical Examiners has information packets for distribution to citizens who wish to file complaints with the Board, and also publishes a semi-annual newsletter that lists all formal disciplinary actions it has taken. The Board sent copies of the newsletters for all disciplinary actions taken from 1990 through 1999 and a separate listing for 1996. The newsletters include the physician's name, degree, date of birth, city of residence, the date and type of action taken and the reason for the action. The listing includes the physician's name, degree, license number, address, date and type of action, and the reason for the action. Both include modifications and terminations of board actions but little information on court decisions that affect board actions. North Dakota informed us that no such actions had taken place.

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 North Dakota or that match a physician disciplined by North Dakota are also included.

North Dakota Board Internet Address: http://www.ndbomex.com
This state has a web site which we have graded F 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, North Dakota took 14 serious disciplinary actions against MDs and DOs in 1999. Compared to the 1,596 MDs licensed in the state, North Dakota had a serious disciplinary action rate of 8.77 serious actions per 1,000 MDs and a ranking of 2nd on that list (see Table A).

The tables below summarize the data Public Citizen received from North Dakota.

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

Action

Number

Percent**

Revocation

8

6.1%

Surrender

4

3.1%

Suspension

14

10.7%

Probation

19

14.5%

Practice Restriction

18

13.7%

Action Taken Against Controlled Substance License

5

3.8%

Other Actions

63

48.1%

Total Actions

131

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

4

4.1%

Sexual Abuse of or Sexual Misconduct with a Patient

3

3.1%

Substandard Care, Incompetence or Negligence

12

12.2%

Misprescribing or Overprescribing Drugs

6

6.1%

Substance Abuse

13

13.3%

Disciplinary Action Taken Against License by Another State or Agency

11

11.2%

Other Offenses

49

50.0%

Total Records With Offense Listed

98

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

2

13.3%

Surrender

1

6.7%

Suspension

2

13.3%

Emergency Suspension

1

6.7%

Probation

1

6.7%

Practice Restriction

5

33.3%

Other Actions

3

20.0%

Total Actions

15

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
North Dakota State Board of Medical Examiners
Rolf Sletten, Executive Secretary/Treasurer
418 East Broadway Ave., Suite 12
City Center Plaza
Bismarck, ND 58501
(701) 328-6500

Internet Address: http://www.ndbomex.com