Keeping Track of Doctors

The South is known as a bit of a refuge for shady doctors, the ones who bill patients inappropriately and order unnecessary exams. The ones who abuse pills and perform drunken exams. The ones who touch patients when there not supposed to. The ones who have escaped suspensions in other parts of the country, and come here to seek new practices and patients. Florida is a notorious den for these charlatans, and if all bad pennies shake to the bottom, then Georgia may not be far behind.

Industrious patients keen to know more about their doctor can check on the easy to access and use Georgia Medical Board website, www.medicalboard.georgia.gov. The internet savvy can cycle through old articles, suspension notices and legal actions against doctors. It is a thorough and up to date record, and the Medical Board of Georgia should be commended for their accurate and up to date record keeping.

Witht that being said, there are still lions in the mist, those who seek out and prey upon paitents. The doctor/patient relationship is one built out of trust, and many patients many do not feel comfortable enough to speak up and charge their doctors with impropriety. The NIH has developed a patient's bill of rights. This document outlines the expectations that patients should have for their doctors, and elucidates many different facets of care that unseasoned hospital-goers may not be aware, such as the right to complete information about a diagnosis, the right to refuse to be used in research, and the right to have secondary physicians communicate information with your primary physician.

So then, what to do when your rights have been violated? The AMA has a complete list of state license boards and agencies that will take patient complaints about ethics violations, as well as details the procss of reporting a violation. Still, if you believe that your doctor has broken the law, then your local police department can investigate and arrest him or her, usually in conjunction with the state medical board.

The unfortunate reality is that very few people are watching out for the welfare of patients, but there avenues to deal with dubious docs.