When you turn to medical professionals, you like to think that they have a spotless record and that you can trust them to uphold their oath to protect your health and safety. What people don’t often know, however, is that many negligent and abusive doctors are still able to practice medicine.
Not knowing whether your own doctor has a record of abusive or dangerous behavior can be disturbing. Unfortunately, many medical malpractice cases aren’t shared over state lines, making it easy for doctors to abuse their power as they continue to practice medicine in different locations.
Dangerous Doctors and Their Crimes
Every year, hundreds of doctors make mistakes or intentionally hurt their patients, and few people know about it. That puts patients in danger.
Let’s say a California doctor made a major error during surgery, and the patient died on the table. It’s not the first time, and he loses his license to practice in California. Then, this doctor moves to Chicago, where you’re looking for a new doctor. In Illinois, this doctor’s record may be clean.
Whether it’s for medical malpractice or sexual abuse, hundreds of doctors have managed to avoid a bad reputation and consequences for their actions. It’s unfortunate for concerned consumers, but it’s possible that your prospective doctor could be known as a danger in another state. Unfortunately, many of them get away with it every year. Without changes to the system, you could become a victim.
How Do They Get Away with It?
It would stand to reason that a medical malpractice or abuse charge would follow a physician over state lines, but it doesn’t, and that’s how they get away with it. Most states provide protection from this through stricter laws on professional negligence claims or by not disclosing information about convictions, actions from the DEA, or malpractice claims.
Few states share more than local board discipline, although Illinois does include board discipline from other states. This lack of information, which varies in quantity in each state, is a key factor in how these negligent, abusive doctors keep getting away with their actions.
These regulation issues happen because every state makes its own laws about medical malpractice and the consequences doctors will face when negligent. For instance, if one of these doctors injured you in Illinois, your medical malpractice claim may be different from one that involved the same physician in Florida, and you may be left thinking you’re the only person this doctor has hurt.
We Can Fight Back
Helping victims of these doctors is our priority. Their dangerous actions go unpunished daily, and this means that even more patients will end up harmed by their actions. If it happens to you, Lane Brown, LLC can help.
An experienced attorney will investigate the doctor in question when you’re injured, looking for past cases of abuse and malpractice, so we can get that physician out of the office and away from other vulnerable patients.
If you’ve been hurt by a negligent or abusive doctor who’s still able to practice medicine, you more than likely need help building a strong personal injury case against him or her. For a free consultation about your case and how we can help you recover compensation, give us a call at 312-332-1400 or fill out the online contact form below.
