The High Court in the UK has ruled that "a regulator has the right to investigate its registrants, irrespective of whether one of their number is under investigation elsewhere," which could mean that "a professional with dual registration could face two separate regulatory investigations over the same matter." The case involved a claimant who is dual qualified as a doctor and a solicitor. The ruling determined that the General Medical Council could investigate the actions of the practitioner when acting in his capacity as a solicitor if the actions have potential to bring disgrace upon the doctor and prejudice the reputation of the medical profession.
July 22, 2020
July 09, 2020
Audit report: California Board of Registered Nurses
The California State Auditor has released a report on the California Board of Registered Nurses, revealing the falsification of investigation records. The Board had been directed to clear the backlog of pending investigations after a 2016 report. In 2018, the Board reported to the auditor that cases were distributed among investigators so that no one investigator had more than 20 cases, but the new audit report shows that cases were subsequently moved back to the original investigators.
A separate audit investigation is underway regarding the Board's oversight of nursing schools and complaints about how the Board handled changes to regulations for nursing students in response to the coronavirus pandemic.
February 06, 2020
UK Government releases Paterson Inquiry report
In 2017, in response to a high-profile case of a surgeon convicted of wounding with intent, the UK Government commissioned an independent inquiry to make recommendations to improve patient safety. The report makes recommendations around information to patients, consent, multidisciplinary teams, complaints, patient recall and ongoing care, improving recall procedures, clinical indemnity, effective collaboration of regulators, investigations of healthcare professionals' practice and behaviours, and corporate accountability.
September 06, 2019
Ohio State Medical Board directed to re-examine cases
The Ohio State Medical Board has been directed by an administration task force to re-examine almost 1500 sexual assault cases that had been closed without action. The task force had been convened by the governor after a high-profile case to look into whether the State Medical Board had known about abuse taking place at Ohio State University and found that a report had been issued by a board investigator noting the abuse but no action had been taken. The task force made several recommendations, including:
- requiring physicians to report suspected sexual misconduct within 30 days
- creating stronger guidelines for when a sexual misconduct case should be closed
- making more of the Board's records publicly available
- using victim advocates during investigations
Ohio's governor also plans to request reports to the task force from the state's nursing, dental, psychology, and pharmacy boards.
June 05, 2019
Illinois investigates stem cell clinics
The Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation and the Attorney General's office are investigating complaints against stem cell clinics, with the possibility of disciplinary action for practitioners making unsupported claims, using unqualified staff, or overcharging patients. Several media reports have detailed failed procedures, overstatement of success rates, and failure to properly notify patients of risks.
January 30, 2019
Arizona regulator reported Medicaid fraud at Hacienda Healthcare
Regarding the ongoing investigation of sexual abuse of a patient in a vegetative state at a healthcare facility in Arizona, the former director of the Department of Economic Security reports that audits of the facility in 2016 and 2017 showed Medicaid fraud and overbilling issues. The former director says the concerns were brought forward to the governor's office but no action was taken at the time. The facility has been ordered to hire an outside manager while further investigation takes place.
November 01, 2018
UK: GMC investigators to receive Human Factors training
The General Medical Council in the UK will begin providing Human Factors training to its fitness-to-practice case examiners, clincial experts and decision makers. Human Factors is "a social science that focuses on maximising understanding of the behaviour of people, their interactions with one another and their environment, with the aim of optimising performance." FtP investigators will be trained to consider system and environment issues that could affect a practitioner's conduct or performance.
The GMC's Assistant Director of Policy, Business Transformation and Safeguarding recently presented a CLEAR webinar (available as an On-Demand recording) on other changes being made to the complaints-handling process to make fitness-to-practice investigations less stressful for practitioners.
August 07, 2018
UK: recommendation to anonymize fitness to practice investigations
The British Medical Association has made a recommendation to the General Medical Council to make fitness to practice investigations anonymous up to the stage when individual intervention is required. The BMA reports that black and minority ethnic (BME) doctors are more likely to be reported to the GMC and tend to receive tougher sanctions. The GMC is currently carrying out a review of the number of complaints received from employers about BME doctors. Previous audits have indicated that ethnicity does not have an effect on the handling of complaints. The concerns raised by the BMA will be considered during the current review.
August 01, 2018
Florida court case: public officials immune from defamation claims
A recent court case in Florida has ruled that public officials are immune from defamation claims related to statements made within the scope of their duties, in this case specifically in the course of sanctioned investigations. The court ruled that such statements, even if allegedly damaging to the professional reputation of the individual about whom the statements are made, are "protected by an absolute privilege."
Calls for tighter regulation and inspection of duck boats
Following a fatal accident of an amphibious passenger vehicle in Missouri, organizations are calling for tighter regulations and a more unified inspection process. Currently, several regulatory organizations are responsible for inspection of the vehicles and regulation of the operators. The United States Coast guard inspects the vehicles for seaworthiness and certifies the drivers as vessel captains. The federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration oversees commercial vehicle inspections, which are typically conducted by state agencies. Previous inspection reports for the vehicles involved in the recent accident cited problems with the vessel not meeting Department of Transportation standards, and the inspector involved s calling for a more unified approach to regulating and inspecting the vehicles.
