New Malpractice Bill
Last week New York state governor David Patterson signed a bill which will now enable the Department of Health to publicly name any doctor who has been charged with medical malpractice. Prompted in part by Long Island doctor Harvey Finkelstein, who has been charged in the past with 11 malpractice suits, the law will enable the public to make an informed decision when choosing a doctor to ensure the physician has a clean record. Sponsored by state senator Kemp Hannon of Garden City, who is chairman of the Senate health committee, the bill will also allow the Office of Professional Medical Conduct to use any past medical malpractice indiscretions by a doctor to begin misconduct probes.
Also, physicians charged with misconduct by the medical conduct office may now be publicly named if the committee is unanimous in charging the doctor, something not currently done. Also, in the past, charges against physicians remained private until proven and the Medical Society of New York opposed naming doctors and using malpractice histories for investigations.??
Now, the state can secure the medical records of those doctors suspected due to alcohol or drug abuse, the Health Department has greater power in halting dangerous practices without a hearing, and office-based surgeons must now report transmissions of blood-borne diseases.??
The law also mandates that the department study possible restrictions on multidose medicine vials. Most doctors charged with misconduct by the state Health Department will have their names made public and will be permitted one day to produce those records demanded of them by investigators. Most aspects of the law take effect in 90 days.
Dr. Finkelstein, who seems to have been the impetus of the bill, has settled 11 malpractice suits in just ten years, including reusing of a syringe thereby infecting a patient with hepatitis C in his office. The doctor also allegedly would reuse a syringe on the same patient while using medicine vials on different patients, heightening the risk of spreading disease throughout his patients. The new law should now enable better communication through the Department of Health and the community at large.
The health department was strongly criticized by patient advocates after it was revealed it negotiated with Finkelstein for his office records, a process that helped delay public notification to over 10,000 of Finkelstein’s patients for an incredible three years.
