“….will eliminate the complaint that one negative complaint against a physician ruins their career.”

Actually I know a surgeon with 30 years of experience who had to go work a the VA as “two” malpractice settlements in 5 years (no board actions) precluded him from getting insurance at a affordable level. But hey CJD you don’t even work in the field so I am sure you know much more about the subject than he does.

Essentially CJD he is unable to get insurance and cannot work outside of the federal government. Hence his career (outside the VA) is ruined. Read for comprehension counsler.

“So because one has to work for the VA their career is “ruined”? What’s the VA pay? Get some perspective.”

I don’t normally insult people but you really are clueless. Let me go step by step for those those with a comprehension problem

1: Doctor A has two malpractice suit payments in a relatively short time frame after a thirty year career.

2: The medical board investigates the settlements (like it does ALL settlements in my state) and concludes there is no evidence for sanction.

3: Doctor A can no longer afford his insurance (with a tail) secondary to above suits.

4: Doctor A lays off his entire staff, closes a practice he took 30 years to build, and many many patients have one fewer surgeon to choose from in an area that doesn’t have enough surgeons in the first place.

5: Doctor A picks up some work at the VA (which by the way has the federal tort system). Not because he wants to but because it his best option

6: Have you ever worked in a VA CJD? There is a joke among those of us who trained there. There is “real” time then there is “VA” time. When you have actually spent some time there you may actually understand what I am talking about.

7: thank you I read the article. My point wasn’t the doc in the article it was your comment:

“….will eliminate the complaint that one negative complaint against a physician ruins their career.”

For a lawyer your reading/critical analysis skills are really rather pathetic. No wonder you spend half of your life on this (and many other) medical related blogs.

It’s interesting that people immediately assumed this doctor was mistreated. Go to the medical board websites for the states in which he has been in trouble and do some reading. You might see things differently. If I did drugs on the job, I would be fired. Who cares if his career is ruined – he alone is responsible for that. I don’t understand how he got licensed in Hawaii with all the crap he’s been in trouble for in other states. Sounds like the Hawaii’s medical board is out to lunch.