California Medical Board Votes to Stop Diversion Program
During my first meeting as a member of the public appointed to the California Medical Board, I participated in voting to abolish the current diversion program run by the Medical Board.
After 20 plus years of operating a program in which physicians could enter for drug and alcohol related problems, the Medical Board could not escape the State Auditor's findings that it just wasn't working. By continuing the program, many on the Board felt that it was giving a false sense of security to patients that these physicians were being appropriately monitored --when in fact, the audit found they were not being monitored correctly or consistently.
The Board also took the testimony of several patients who claimed that they had been harmed by physicians who practiced under the influence and who were very distraught over the fact that the public cannot learn which physicians are impaired.
The Board also voted to set up a "summit" to bring together experts in diversion and rehabilitation programs in the State to see what can be done in the future.
If you are interested in the findings of the State Auditor regarding the Medical Board's Diversion program, link on to: http://www.bsa.ca.gov/pdfs/reports/2006-116R.pdf
After 20 plus years of operating a program in which physicians could enter for drug and alcohol related problems, the Medical Board could not escape the State Auditor's findings that it just wasn't working. By continuing the program, many on the Board felt that it was giving a false sense of security to patients that these physicians were being appropriately monitored --when in fact, the audit found they were not being monitored correctly or consistently.
The Board also took the testimony of several patients who claimed that they had been harmed by physicians who practiced under the influence and who were very distraught over the fact that the public cannot learn which physicians are impaired.
The Board also voted to set up a "summit" to bring together experts in diversion and rehabilitation programs in the State to see what can be done in the future.
If you are interested in the findings of the State Auditor regarding the Medical Board's Diversion program, link on to: http://www.bsa.ca.gov/pdfs/reports/2006-116R.pdf
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