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North Carolina Medical Board Will Launch New Medical Malpractice Information Website

Both the News & Observer of Raleigh and WRAL.com out of Raleigh, Durham, and Fayetteville reported this week that the North Carolina Medical Board has moved to a decision regarding whether or not doctors' medical malpractice histories should be available to the public on the internet. On one side of the argument, the board has faced widespread criticism from patients, citizens, and lawyers by not posting information that could possibly save lives and prevent future medical malpractice lawsuits.

On the other hand, North Carolina's private physicians' association is against the database and the disclosure of so much sensitive medical malpractice information, as it could contain misleading information and not clearly explain the particulars of a case. Opposing doctors also argue that a medical malpractice lawsuit might be misconstrued as a doctor's poor care, negligence, or lack of skills, when more often medical malpractice cases are due to "honest" mistakes or split-second decisions.

The result of the two battling sides is a series of compromises concerning the medical malpractice database, resulting in a website that provides some information to the public, but not in as much detail as some would like.

If you would like to research the medical malpractice history of your doctor or health professional, you will be able to access the following information beginning in fall of 2009:

• A doctor's medical malpractice payouts, starting in October 2007. This differs from the initial wish of the board, who wanted to publish information from the last seven years. This is due to legal secrecy clauses that may still be in effect for past cases.
• Whether the legal action led to the discipline of the doctor. This information is especially interesting, since private discipline usually implies that the doctor did not act accordingly or morally while the absence of discipline often implies "honest" mistakes.
• Only settlements exceeding $25,000 will be listed, at the request of The NC Medical Society, malpractice insurers and associated defense lawyers who complained that listing lesser malpractice cases would be unfair and that 25 other states have the same stipulation. This is also the amount at which a doctor's medical malpractice insurance premiums are negatively affected.
• The names of the patients and their specific claim amounts will not be listed.
• The site will note that malpractice does not necessitate negligence or poor judgment and that some medical specialty fields, such as obstetrics and neurosurgery, draw significantly more lawsuits than others due to the nature of the work in comparison to family practitioners.

For news stories related to the board decision and related scalebacks, please see the following articles:

• NC Regulators Cut Back on Malpractice Data from WRAL.com

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