Sacramento, CA – A bill that would have put patients at risk from doctors who practice medicine while abusing drugs or alcohol will not move forward this year. AB 408 by Assemblymember Berman and sponsored by the Medical Board of California was removed from today’s agenda for the Senate Judiciary Committee.
Tina Minasian, an advocate for patient rights in California, testified against the bill at a hearing earlier this month. Minasian suffers lifelong injuries inflicted by a substance-abusing surgeon who was a participant in the former confidential physician diversion program. She played a pivotal role in advocating for the closure of the prior failed program.
“I didn’t know the doctor I chose was secretly enrolled in a program meant to ‘help’ impaired physicians—but it was a system designed to protect him, not me. AB 408 would protect doctors from informing their patients of their participation in the new diversion program even if they relapse, like my doctor repeatedly did,” stated Minasian.
“We’re glad that patient concerns were heard and that the bill will not move forward in its current form this year. We look forward to working with the author on amendments so helping doctors doesn’t come at the expense of patient safety,” said Carmen Balber, executive director of Consumer Watchdog.
AB 408 would create a secret drug and alcohol “diversion program” where the Board would send doctors who have substance abuse problems, instead of taking disciplinary action. AB 408 does not require disclosure to Medical Board enforcement staff, or consequences, for a doctor in the program that fails a drug test, skips a drug test, or otherwise violates the program. This silence about relapse by doctors who are actively treating patients is not limited to doctors who choose treatment voluntarily. It applies to doctors sent to the program by the board who would otherwise have faced discipline, including those found using substances at work, said Consumer Watchdog.
The Medical Board’s prior diversion program was abolished after failing five state audits because doctors who entered the program could relapse with no consequences and patients were harmed. To prevent this from happening again, the Legislature passed oversight rules called the “Uniform Standards” and applied them to doctors in diversion programs and every other health care professional in the state. However, if AB 408 passes in its current form, it would provide an exclusive exemption to doctors, shielding them from the consequences established by these standards. Consumer Watchdog has urged preserving those patient protections.
“We applaud doctors who voluntarily seek treatment before they pose a risk; the danger is in keeping information secret about doctors who are already a clear and present danger to patients. If the Board learns of a doctor’s substance abuse, sends them to treatment, and then they fail a drug test, that fact can’t be kept secret from the Board,” said Balber.
Read Consumer Watchdog’s opposition letter on AB 408 here.
Read the opposition letter from the Consumer Protection Policy Center at University of San Diego School of Law here.
KGTV San Diego ran this recent story about the secret drug program.
