Medical Malpractice Reporting
If the malpractice action strictly involved a "system" problem and an M.D. was not named in the claim/action, a report need not be filed with the MBC.
A report need not be filed with the Medical Board but there may be reporting requirements to other professional licensing boards or bureaus.
No. Reporting is intended to alert the Medical Board to situations where a licensed practitioner may be negligent or incompetent in their professional practice. Residents, interns, and medical students have not established that they possess the minimum entry level competence. The purpose of the statute requiring reporting is not served by requiring a report where the incident occurred before the practitioner became licensed.
Yes. The law requires that any medical malpractice judgment or arbitration award of any amount or settlement over $30,000 that relates to a licensee's alleged negligence, error or omission in practice be reported, regardless of where the care and treatment occurred. While the Medical Board of California would not review the underlying circumstances in the malpractice case as the treatment occurred outside of California, the involvement in the malpractice case would count as part of the accumulated total which may result in public disclosure.
Unless the settlement/judgment/arbitration award specifically apportions an amount to each particular physician named in the claim or action, the Medical Board will attribute the full amount of the award to each physician named.
Yes. If no amount is shown as paid on behalf of the physician, the Medical Board will attribute the entire amount of the settlement to each named physician.
A report need not be filed with the Medical Board.
The date of "occurrence" is the date of the precipitating event leading to the death or personal injury stated in the entry of judgment.
Medical Board staff in the Central Complaint Unit review all information provided to determine whether a violation of the Medical Practice Act occurred. Each named physician is given an opportunity to respond.
Judgments and arbitration awards are posted upon receipt. Settlements resolved after January 1, 2003 are disclosed after a physician has accumulated three or four settlements within a 5-year period (depending upon the specialty of the physician). After five years, the information is removed from the Board's website but is still available to the public upon request for a 10-year period.
Physicians should contact the entity who reported the information to the Medical Board.
