Submitted to the Chicago Tribune

To the Editor:

The Illinois State Medical Society (ISMS) has put enormous effort into protecting patients from health professionals convicted of sex crimes. We’ve worked closely with Sen. Kirk Dillard and fully supported his legislation. We will not rest until his bill or a similarly strong measure is enacted into law. It is our mission to promote the doctor/patient relationship, the ethical practice of medicine and the betterment of the public health.

For this reason, we take strong objection to the Tribune editorial (No Second Chances, December 17) and Megan Twohey’s reporting (State Medical Society a Roadblock to Legislation Barring Dangerous Doctors, Critics Say, December 19). They omit an abundance of vital information and misrepresent ISMS’ position and work on the issue of medical discipline. When the news is half-told, it does nothing to inform the public and is irresponsible.

Sen. Dillard’s bill to protect patients from sexual predators is a strong, effective remedy. It bars from medical practice for a minimum of five years any doctor convicted of a sexual criminal act or forcible intentional felony. License reinstatement depends on three autonomous factors: positive clinical evaluation by two independent, board-certified psychiatrists; approval of the state’s medical disciplinary board; and the perpetrator’s removal from the Illinois sex offender registry. Each of these on its own is highly unlikely; together, they set an enormously high standard. Because this proposal applies to 23 license categories of health professionals and not just physicians, it is stronger and broader than the laws of California and Minnesota, which the Tribune cites as models.

Not once did the Tribune mention that the Illinois Division of Professional Regulation (DPR), the state agency charged with oversight of medical professionals, has been deprived of the financial resources it needs to do its job. DPR’s medical disciplinary process is funded through licensing fees paid by physicians. Illinois lawmakers have consistently transferred millions of these dedicated monies and applied them to other areas of government wholly unrelated to medical discipline. These transfers need to stop if we expect DPR to be able to do its job.

The Tribune also raises the issue of physician profiles. Frankly, these profiles don’t offer much information that can’t be found elsewhere on the internet. Even if they did, a Massachusetts study found little correlation between this information and quality care. This is, after all, the purpose of providing the public with such information.

To set the record straight, ISMS has supported physician profiles and will support them again when they are accompanied by meaningful medical lawsuit reform. Your coverage neglected to even mention this. In fact, ISMS-backed legislation to reauthorize the profiles, along with other medical litigation reforms, was introduced on March 24, 2010. For reasons unknown to us, the Illinois House of Representatives never considered the bill. Illinois’ lawsuit climate is among the worst in the nation, as evidenced by doctors’ high medical liability premiums. Just last week Cook County was again heralded on an annual list of top “judicial hellholes.” For certain medical specialties it is not a question of whether you’ll be sued, but when. Therefore, posting lawsuit information as a component of a physician profile is essentially meaningless for many areas of medical care. 

Sincerely,

Steven M. Malkin, MD, FACP
President, Illinois State Medical Society