Study: Many docs don’t blow whistle

Associated Press

CHICAGO

Your doctor could be drunk, addicted to drugs or outright incompetent, but other physicians may not blow the whistle.

A new survey finds that many American physicians fail to report troubled colleagues to authorities, believing that someone else will take care of it, that nothing will happen if they act or that they could be targeted for retribution.

A surprising 17 percent of the doctors surveyed had direct, personal knowledge of an impaired or incompetent physician in their workplaces, said the study’s lead author, Catherine DesRoches of Harvard Medical School.

One-third of those doctors had not reported the matter to authorities such as hospital officials or state medical boards. The findings, appearing in today’s Journal of the American Medical Association, are based on a 2009 survey of 1,891 practicing U.S. doctors.

Reporting a problem doctor can trigger important changes. Twenty-one years ago, a colleague smelled alcohol on a young physician’s breath and anonymously reported him to the head of the residency program. A now-sober Dr. A. Clark Gaither is grateful.

“I wish I knew who reported me,” he said. “I’d like to give them a big ol’ hug and thank them for saving my life.”

Programs exist for retraining doctors with weak skills and getting addicted ones into treatment.

But the survey results suggest doctors are not confident in the system, DesRoches said.

The American Medical Association and other professional groups say doctors have an ethical obligation to make such reports.

And many states require doctors to tell authorities about colleagues who endanger patients because of alcoholism, drug abuse or mental illness.

Despite that, many doctors do not know what to do or where to start, DesRoches said.

Most states have programs that not only get doctors into treatment but also advise their colleagues how to intervene.

Most will keep reports anonymous. Some use the threat of medical board sanction to persuade doctors to go to rehab.

For Dr. Gaither, the first confrontation with concerned colleagues was in medical school.

He reassured his fellow students he was fine. Even the second confrontation did not take.

Finally, a third confrontation and the temporary loss of his training license forced Gaither into what he calls “a state of surrender.” With help from the North Carolina Physicians Health Program, he got into a residential rehab program.

His last drink was Jan. 21, 1990. Dr. Gaither, now 55, finished his residency and became a family doctor.

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