Lucian Leape MD, a public health professor at Harvard, wants to subject doctors in America to strict random and periodic drug testing to help identify those physicians who are impaired. All in the name of patient safety, of course:
“I’m very much in favor of random testing,” Dr. Leape says. “We have a responsibility to identify problem doctors and bring them into treatment.” And to protect patients in the process.
Ok, I get it. Impaired physicians are bad. We don’t want strung out cokeheads and stumbling alcoholics roaming the halls of our hospitals. But random drug testing?
Consider the following:
1. A doctor who is on vacation with extended family in the Outer Banks. After a day of surfing and tanning and several cold frosty beers, one her cousins busts out a joint late night on the back deck while the ocean rolls into shore. And let’s say she partakes in such activities 3 of the next 4 nights in similar fashion. That THC will be floating around in her system for the next 30 days, potentially. What if she is called to give urine a week after the trip?
2. Let’s say an internist goes to a Super Bowl party with friends. The day turns into an all night fiesta as they celebrate the Browns’ first ever world title. Many beers are consumed. Knowing that it was going to be a long night of carousing, the doctor had canceled his office hours for the following Monday morning, planning to just drop by the office in the afternoon to do some charting. The next morning, his office manager calls at 8 AM sharp and tells him he has to have his urine/blood sample in by 10AM. He stumbles out of bed, still hung over, and rushes into the hospital. The result shows his blood alcohol is 0.09 (enough to get you a DUI). What do you do with him?
What are the consequences? Do you lose your license? Are you reported to the medical board? Are your privileges at hospitals suspended? Does your name wind up on the police blotter section of your local Sunday paper?
To be clear — I am strictly against the idea of physicians practicing medicine while impaired. But this totalitarian encroachment on what a man or a woman chooses to do in his/her free time is rather disturbing. As a professional class I think it is our own responsibility to identify and report those doctors who have a problem. An impaired physician cannot hide for very long. We just need to stop being such timid cowards and do a better job of self-policing ourselves.
Jeffrey Parks is a general surgeon who blogs at Buckeye Surgeon.
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