Physicians Routinely Protect Incompetent Colleagues; 45 Percent Admit Failure to Report

Thursday, July 10, 2008 by: David Gutierrez, staff writer
Tags: medical mistakes, health news, Natural News

(NaturalNews) Nearly half of doctors fail to report colleagues who are impaired or incompetent to the proper authorities, according to a new study published in the Archives of Internal Medicine.

The study's findings were based on survey responses from 1,662 doctors across the United States who were practicing between November 2003 and June 2004. Nearly all doctors surveyed said that physicians have a responsibility to report impaired or incompetent colleagues (96 percent), as well as a responsibility to report serious medical errors that they have observed (93 percent).

But many of the doctors surveyed admitted that they did not follow these practices themselves. When asked whether they had reported every incident of an incompetent or impaired colleague that they had observed within the last three years, only 55 percent said yes. When asked the same question about serious medical errors, 54 percent said yes.

The researchers also analyzed the data by area of specialization, looking at anesthesiologists, cardiologists, family practitioners internists, pediatricians and surgeons. Cardiologists were the least likely to report serious medical errors, and family practitioners the least likely to report impaired or incompetent colleagues. In the latter category, cardiologists followed family practitioners by only 0.8 percent.

According the Jack Lewin, CEO of the American College of Cardiology, the numbers may arise from the fact that most cardiologists practice in groups and are more likely to resolve problems internally, rather than reporting them. But the study actually found that doctors who always practiced in groups of three or more were more likely than other doctors to report problems.

Lewin noted that many doctors also fear retribution in the form of lawsuits if they report colleagues.

"We probably need some kind of whistle-blower protection for doctors," he said.

According to senior author David Blumenthal, there is a silver lining - doctors already know that they should be reporting problems.

"You don't have to convince them about what they ought to be doing," he said.