LEGISLATURE SHOULD LET BOARD DO CRIMINAL CHECKS ON DOCTORS

Medical Necessity

What do a fifth-grade math teacher, a nude dancer at a Lexington nightclub,
the owner of a store-bought gun, and a school volunteer coach have in common?

All are required to undergo a criminal background check.

Not on that list is doctor, which is a glaring omission that should be
rectified when the legislature meets next year.

The state Medical Licensure Board, which gives doctors permission to
practice here, doesn't have the authority to do criminal checks, although
it does confirm education and training.

As it is, the board leaves it to the applicants/doctors to accurately
disclose any criminal charges or convictions. The problem with an honor
system is that doctors with criminal records are also less likely to be
honest about them.

Self-reporting won't do.

Just last week, it was discovered that a doctor who is suspected of
prescription drug fraud was found to have been arrested in 1987 for a drug
offense in California.

The Kentucky board alleges that Dr. Fortune James Williams saw almost 100
patients a day and dispensed 2.3 million painkillers and other potentially
addictive drugs over nine months at his Lewis County pain-control clinic.

At times, the board says, Williams' clinic drew such crowds of patients
that it caused a traffic jam in little Garrison.

His license was temporarily suspended by the board last week, pending a
hearing.

With prescription drug abuse already too common and now OxyContin adding to
it, doctors have to be scrutinized more closely.

Whether the board would have denied Williams a license because of the 1987
drug arrest is unknown, but it certainly would have raised a red flag.

Some states are already making criminal background checks. California, for
one, found that 3 percent to 5 percent of applicants had a criminal record
of some kind. Those states that don't bother to do the checks might come to
be considered safe havens by doctors trying to hide their pasts.

As long as the state Board of Medical Licensure is not allowed to obtain
criminal background checks on doctors, no patient can be sure who's at the
other end of the stethoscope.

The General Assembly should enact this safeguard as soon as possible.