Doctors That Commit Medical Malpractice Rarely Face Discipline

The next time an Insurance Company complains about the need to limit Medical Malpractice awards, they may want to ask the Florida Board of Medicine to discipline those doctors that repeatedly commit Medical Malpractice.

Medical Malpractice is a common occurrence in Florida. Yet the Florida Medical Board ranks 42nd in the nation for discipling their own. This is the 4th year in a row that Florida ranked in the bottom 10.

In 2011 Florida had 58,026 licensed medical doctors, the fourth most in the country. However, the board of medicine, which is comprised of 12 doctors and 3 non-doctors,
concluded that only 171 doctors needed serious disciplinary actions — defined as license revocations, suspensions, surrenders under pressure and probationary sentences, a rate of 2.28 per 1,000 doctors.

By comparison, Wyoming suspended 6.79 doctors per 1000. A rate more than three times greater.

As a Miami Medical Malpractice Lawyer I am often asked by my clients, “what will happen to the doctor that did this?” As evidenced by the latest figures, the answer is not much.

As reported by the sun sentinel, Public Citizen, a group founded by Ralph Nader, recommends that to improve disciplinary rates, state boards of medicine should make sure they have adequate funding and staffing, proactive investigations and a leadership that is independently minded and aggressive about policing its own ranks.