From: unk...@googlegroups.com   
      
   Originally published July 10 2008   
      
   Physicians Routinely Protect Incompetent Colleagues; 45 Percent Admit Failure   
   to Report   
      
   by David Gutierrez, staff writer    
      
   (NaturalNews) Nearly half of doctors fail to report colleagues who are   
   impaired or incompetent to the proper authorities, according to a new study   
   published in the Archives of Internal Medicine.   
      
   The study's findings were based on survey responses from 1,662 doctors across   
   the United States who were practicing between November 2003 and June 2004.   
   Nearly all doctors surveyed said that physicians have a responsibility to   
   report impaired or    
   incompetent colleagues (96 percent), as well as a responsibility to report   
   serious medical errors that they have observed (93 percent).   
      
   But many of the doctors surveyed admitted that they did not follow these   
   practices themselves. When asked whether they had reported every incident of   
   an incompetent or impaired colleague that they had observed within the last   
   three years, only 55 percent    
   said yes. When asked the same question about serious medical errors, 54   
   percent said yes.   
      
   The researchers also analyzed the data by area of specialization, looking at   
   anesthesiologists, cardiologists, family practitioners internists,   
   pediatricians and surgeons. Cardiologists were the least likely to report   
   serious medical errors, and family    
   practitioners the least likely to report impaired or incompetent colleagues.   
   In the latter category, cardiologists followed family practitioners by only   
   0.8 percent.   
      
   According the Jack Lewin, CEO of the American College of Cardiology, the   
   numbers may arise from the fact that most cardiologists practice in groups and   
   are more likely to resolve problems internally, rather than reporting them.   
   But the study actually    
   found that doctors who always practiced in groups of three or more were more   
   likely than other doctors to report problems.   
      
   Lewin noted that many doctors also fear retribution in the form of lawsuits if   
   they report colleagues.   
      
   "We probably need some kind of whistle-blower protection for doctors," he said.   
      
   According to senior author David Blumenthal, there is a silver lining -   
   doctors already know that they should be reporting problems.   
      
   "You don't have to convince them about what they ought to be doing," he said.   
      
      
   http://www.naturalnews.com/023605.html   
      
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