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

VIRGINIA

1999 serious action rate: 3.80/1000 doctors
1999 ranking: 22nd

In Virginia, there were disciplinary actions reported against 390 doctors including 32 who were disciplined for substance abuse, 50 for misprescribing or overprescribing drugs, 31 for sexual abuse of or sexual misconduct with a patient, 29 for substandard care, incompetence or negligence and 54 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 Virginia State Board of Medicine sent copies of its newsletter, "Board Briefs" from 1990 through 1999. These list the physician's name, degree, license number, city and state of residence, the date and type of action taken, and the reason for the action. The newsletters also contain information on terminations of board actions but not on court decisions affecting board actions. Virginia informed us that no such actions had taken place. For 1992 through 1994, and for March 1999 through September 1999, the Virginia Board also sent board orders. These orders provide detailed explanations of the disciplinary proceedings including the physician's name, degree, license number, date and type of action taken, and the reason for the action.

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

Virginia Board Internet Address: http://www.dhp.state.va.us/levelone/med.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. 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, Virginia took 70 serious disciplinary actions against MDs and DOs in 1999. Compared to the 18,441 MDs licensed in the state, Virginia had a serious disciplinary action rate of 3.80 serious actions per 1,000 MDs and a ranking of 22nd on that list (see Table A).

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

Table 1. Disciplinary Actions Against MDs and DOs 1990 through 1999*
Action	Number	Percent**
Revocation	46	8.1%
Surrender	41	7.2%
Suspension	83	14.6%
Probation	147	25.9%
Practice Restriction	23	4.1%
Action Taken Against Controlled Substance License	14	2.5%
Other Actions	213	37.6%
Total Actions	567	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	62	14.8%
Sexual Abuse of or Sexual Misconduct with a Patient	32	7.6%
Substandard Care, Incompetence or Negligence	29	6.9%
Misprescribing or Overprescribing Drugs	52	12.4%
Substance Abuse	36	8.6%
Disciplinary Action Taken Against License by Another State or Agency	85	20.3%
Other Offenses	123	29.4%
Total Records With Offense Listed	419	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	4	11.4%
Surrender	1	2.9%
Suspension	3	8.6%
Emergency Suspension	4	11.4%
Probation	7	20.0%
Other Actions	16	45.7%
Total Actions	35	100.0%

Table 4. Disciplinary Actions Taken for Substandard Care, Incompetence or Negligence
Action	Number	Percent
Revocation	1	2.7%
Surrender	3	8.1%
Probation	14	37.8%
Practice Restriction	2	5.4%
Fine	2	5.4%
Reprimand	7	18.9%
Other Actions	8	21.6%
Total Actions	37	100.0%

Table 5. Disciplinary Actions Taken for Criminal Conviction
Action	Number	Percent
Revocation	15	20.3%
Suspension	26	35.1%
Emergency Suspension	1	1.4%
Probation	14	18.9%
Other Actions	18	24.3%
Total Actions	74	100.0%

Table 6. Disciplinary Actions Taken for Misprescribing or Overprescribing Drugs
Action	Number	Percent
Revocation	4	6.5%
Surrender	6	9.7%
Revocation, Surrender, or Suspension of Controlled Substance License	1	1.6%
Emergency Suspension	2	3.2%
Probation	22	35.5%
Restriction of Controlled Substance License	4	6.5%
Fine	1	1.6%
Education	6	9.7%
Other Actions	16	25.8%
Total Actions	62	100.0%

Table 7. Disciplinary Actions Taken for Substance Abuse
Action	Number	Percent
Revocation	1	2.4%
Surrender	3	7.3%
Emergency Suspension	6	14.6%
Probation	18	43.9%
Restriction of Controlled Substance License	2	4.9%
Other Actions	11	26.8%
Total Actions	41	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
Virginia State Board of Medicine
Warren W. Koontz, Jr, MD, Executive Director
6606 West Broad St., 4th Floor
Richmond, VA 23230-1717
(804) 662-7005
In Virginia only: (800) 533-1560
Fax: (804) 662-9943
E-mail: medbd@dhp.state.va.us
Internet Address: http://www.dhp.state.va.us