The HealthlawBlog has several interesting articles on legal health issues and is definitely worth a read for anyone who is interested in medical/legal issues. This linked post discusses issues relating to quack medicine and also the proper role of state licensing boards. I've represented several health care professionals before the State Board of Medical Examiners. In those many instances I represented only one whose license should have been revoked--and the board did so. In all the other matters, the health care professional had the misfortune to settle a case above $30,000--not a large amount in medical malpractice circles. I don't think any disciplinary action should have been taken in those cases. In California, all settlements above $30,000 must be reported to the Medical Board, which then commences an action against the practictioner's license, using the evidence from the underlying case without a lot of thought and imagination. Many, but not all, of the Deputy Attorney Generals have a prosecutorial mindset that I think is not appropriate in most cases. I recognize the difficulties becasue you do want to swiftly move against dangerously incompetent individuals without steamrollering those who have made one mistake in a career.
HealthLawBlog makes the same good point in discussing the difficulties in dealing with medical quackery and innovative medical treatments
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