Lawmakers consider opening database on doctors to public

March 1, 2000
Web posted at: 11:15 p.m. EST (0415 GMT)

In this story: 'A white wall of silence' 'Patients have a right to know' RELATED STORIES, SITES

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- While Congress is pondering whether to let consumers have access to a secret government database about disciplinary actions taken against doctors, lawmakers are hearing from patients who say they were harmed by physicians.

"Six months ago I delivered a girl in Beth Israel hospital by emergency Caesarean," Liana Gedz told the House Commerce subcommittee on oversight and investigations Wednesday. "After the completion of the surgery, doctor Allan Zarkin carved his initials on my abdomen."

She said if she had been allowed to see the government file on Zarkin, she would have learned of other patients' complaints and chosen another physician.

Gedz, left, and Zarkin

'A white wall of silence'

Gedz, a dentist, also told the panel that keeping the National Practitioners Databank closed perpetuates "a white wall of silence where hospitals protect doctors and doctors protect their peers."

Zarkin was suspended from the hospital, but he continued to practice medicine for five months. He has since lost his medical license and is now awaiting trial. His lawyer says Zarkin suffers from a brain disease that impairs his judgment.

The National Practitioners Databank was created by Congress a decade ago to keep physicians disciplined by the medical board of one state from avoiding detection if they moved to another state and applied for a medical license.

The system is accessed 3.5 million times a year by hospitals, HMO's and state medical boards. But despite the fact that the database is funded by taxpayers, the public is not allowed to use it.

'Patients have a right to know'

"American patients do have a right to know whether their doctor has a history of malpractice payments, disciplinary sanctions, or criminal convictions," said Commerce Committee Chairman Rep. Thomas Bliley, R-Virginia.

Bliley's efforts are being challenged by the American Medical Association and other professional groups who are worried that too much disclosure could mean less information coming forward about wrongdoers:

"Complete disclosure of the databank's contents to the public could cause caregivers to be less forthcoming about their own mistakes and less likely to express concerns about the competence of their peers," said Dr. Rodney Hochman of the American Hospital Association.

He also said the database would not explain facts about malpractice lawsuits. Hochman said some insurance companies make it standard policy to settle cases, regardless of whether malpractice was committed, because it's cheaper than fighting.

The database also would unfairly flag physicians who do high-risk procedures or are in specialties such as obstetrics that produce more lawsuits, said Rep. Greg Ganske, a Republican congressman who is also a Des Moines, Iowa, doctor. That could eventually lead to fewer physicians going into these specialties or performing risky but necessary surgeries, he said.

Many states don't agree with critics of public access to the databank. The group Public Citizen finds half of U.S. states have Web sites detailing disciplinary actions taken against doctors -- and the reasons why the physicians face such actions.

"It's really a kick in the head to the secrecy surrounding the National Practitioners' Databank that states are taking this matter into their own hands," said Dr. Sidney Wolfe of the group Public Citizen.

But even if the database is made public, it's only as good as the information going into it. An oversight board has found 60 percent of U.S. hospitals have not reported a single incident regarding a doctor in 10 years.

Correspondent Jonathan Aiken and The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Proposed bills would restrict access to medical records - April 27, 1999
April 27, 1999

National Practitioners Databank
AMA - American Medical Association Home Page
American Hospital Association
Public Citizen

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