 |
In Texas,
there were disciplinary actions reported against 1094
doctors including 157 who were disciplined for substance abuse, 97 for misprescribing or
overprescribing drugs, 44 for sexual abuse of or sexual misconduct with a patient, 122 for
substandard care, incompetence or negligence and 63 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 Texas State Board of Medical Examiners sent newsletters dated from
1990 to the winter of 1992. The disciplinary actions were not individually dated, but they
cover roughly through October 1992. The listed action date for these records is the date
of the newsletter. The newsletters listed the physician's name, degree, license number,
city and state of residence, the date and type of action taken, and usually the reason for
the action. In 1992, the board started sending copies of disciplinary orders and they are
included through 1999. These orders contain the physician's name, degree, license number,
date and type of action taken, and the reason for the action. The orders contain
information on modifications and terminations of board actions but not on court decisions
affecting board actions. Texas gave us additional information on these actions.
The information provided covers disciplinary actions taken against both 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 Texas or that match a physician disciplined by Texas are also
included.
According to the Federation of State Medical Boards, Texas took 124
serious disciplinary actions against MDs and DOs in 1999. Compared to the 45,707 MDs in
the state, Texas had a serious disciplinary action rate of 2.71 serious actions per 1,000
MDs and a ranking of 34th on that list (see Table A).
The tables below summarize the data Public Citizen received from Texas.
Table
1. Disciplinary Actions Against MDs and DOs 1990
through 1999* |
Action |
Number |
Percent** |
| Revocation |
72 |
3.5% |
Surrender |
130 |
6.4% |
Suspension |
161 |
7.9% |
Probation |
463 |
22.8% |
Practice Restriction |
217 |
10.7% |
Action Taken Against Controlled Substance License |
160 |
7.9% |
Other Actions |
832 |
40.9% |
Total Actions |
2035 |
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 |
68 |
5.7% |
Sexual Abuse of or Sexual Misconduct with a Patient |
46 |
3.8% |
Substandard Care, Incompetence or Negligence |
125 |
10.4% |
Misprescribing or Overprescribing Drugs |
99 |
8.2% |
Substance Abuse |
196 |
16.3% |
Disciplinary Action Taken Against License by Another
State or Agency |
159 |
13.2% |
Other Offenses |
508 |
42.3% |
Total Records With Offense Listed |
1201 |
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 Sexual Abuse of or Sexual Misconduct with a Patient |
Action |
Number |
Percent |
| Revocation |
1 |
1.3% |
Surrender |
5 |
6.7% |
Suspension |
3 |
4.0% |
Emergency Suspension |
2 |
2.7% |
Probation |
12 |
16.0% |
Fine |
6 |
8.0% |
Other Actions |
46 |
61.3% |
Total Actions |
75 |
100.0% |
Table 4. Disciplinary Actions Taken for Substandard Care,
Incompetence or Negligence |
Action |
Number |
Percent |
| Revocation |
3 |
1.5% |
Suspension |
4 |
2.0% |
Emergency Suspension |
3 |
1.5% |
Probation |
45 |
22.0% |
Practice Restriction |
39 |
19.0% |
Fine |
19 |
9.3% |
Reprimand |
30 |
14.6% |
Other Actions |
62 |
30.2% |
Total Actions |
205 |
100.0% |
Table 5. Disciplinary Actions Taken for Criminal Conviction |
Action |
Number |
Percent |
| Revocation |
18 |
20.9% |
Surrender |
6 |
7.0% |
Suspension |
19 |
22.1% |
Emergency Suspension |
2 |
2.3% |
Probation |
11 |
12.8% |
Fine |
6 |
7.0% |
Other Actions |
24 |
27.9% |
Total Actions |
86 |
100.0% |
Table
6. Disciplinary Actions Taken for Misprescribing or Overprescribing Drugs |
Action |
Number |
Percent |
| Revocation |
3 |
1.9% |
Surrender |
8 |
5.0% |
Revocation, Surrender, or Suspension of Controlled
Substance License |
6 |
3.7% |
Suspension |
6 |
3.7% |
Emergency Suspension |
1 |
0.6% |
Probation |
34 |
21.1% |
Restriction of Controlled Substance License |
22 |
13.7% |
Fine |
7 |
4.3% |
Education |
27 |
16.8% |
Other Actions |
47 |
29.2% |
Total Actions |
161 |
100.0% |
Table
7. Disciplinary Actions Taken for Substance Abuse |
Action |
Number |
Percent |
| Revocation |
5 |
1.6% |
Surrender |
2 |
0.6% |
Revocation, Surrender, or Suspension of Controlled
Substance License |
21 |
6.5% |
Suspension |
40 |
12.5% |
Emergency Suspension |
18 |
5.6% |
Probation |
111 |
34.6% |
Restriction of Controlled Substance License |
34 |
10.6% |
Required to Enter an Impaired Physician Program or
Substance Abuse Treatment |
10 |
3.1% |
Other Actions |
80 |
24.9% |
Total Actions |
321 |
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:
Texas State Board of Medical Examiners
Bruce A. Levy, MD, JD, Executive Secretary
PO Box 2018
Austin, TX 78768-2018
(512) 305-7010
(800) 201-9353
Internet Address: http://www.tsbme.state.tx.us
|
TEXAS