76% Of Physician License Actions Related To Substance Abuse


 
14.5k
Shares
 

By Erica Carbajal

In a study involving 5,023 actions against the licenses of U.S. physicians, 76.3 percent were related to substance abuse, according to findings published June 3.

The findings are based on physician license actions reported to the National Practitioner Data Bank between 2004 to 2020.

Three key findings:

1. A total of 3,841 license actions, or 76.3 percent, were related to substance abuse. Actions taken for this peaked in 2011 but otherwise declined in frequency across the 17-year period.

2. Physical impairment accounted for 614 or 12.2 percent of license actions, followed by psychological impairment at 577 or 11.5 percent.

3. Physicians with license actions related to substance abuse or psychological impairment were more likely to have an indefinite rather than permanent penalty and have emergency action taken against their license.


 
14.5k
Shares
 

Articles in this issue:

Journal of Medicine Sign Up

Get the Journal of Medicine delivered to your inbox.

Thank you for subscribing.

No membership required*

Masthead

    • Editor-in Chief:
    • Theodore Massey
    • Editor:
    • Robert Sokonow
    • Editorial Staff:
    • Musaba Dekau
      Lin Takahashi
      Thomas Levine
      Cynthia Casteneda Avina
      Ronald Harvinger
      Lisa Andonis

Leave a Comment

Please keep in mind that all comments are moderated. Please do not use a spam keyword or a domain as your name, or else it will be deleted. Let's have a personal and meaningful conversation instead. Thanks for your comments!

*This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.