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Why do state prisons employ so many doctors with serious sanctions?

On Behalf of | Feb 3, 2025 | Medical Malpractice

It certainly shouldn’t be news to anyone that incarcerated people throughout the country often don’t get the level of medical care anyone has a right to expect from licensed medical professionals. Too often, they aren’t even given the opportunity to see a doctor when they’re injured or ill.

A recent investigation found that people in the New York state prison system are sometimes treated by doctors found guilty of medical negligence and misconduct and in some cases even convicted of felonies. While sanctioned by the state Board for Professional Medical Conduct, they did not permanently lose their licenses. That’s how they ended up employed by the Department of Corrections and Community Supervision (DOCCS).

Ten percent of doctors working for DOCCS have been sanctioned

The investigation discovered that a full 10% of doctors working full-time in the system had been sanctioned (with long probationary periods in some cases). That’s far above the .05% of doctors as a whole practicing throughout the state with sanctions on their record.

Doctors who have made egregious errors while treating patients have been elevated to powerful positions within the prison system. Some have faced lawsuits for medical negligence from incarcerated people and surviving family members. That includes a class-action lawsuit on behalf of several thousand prisoners. As one inmate said, “The doctors would try to convince the inmates that what they are complaining about isn’t authentic. The word they’d use is ‘malingering.’”

A spokesperson for DOCCS recently played down the problem of unqualified doctors — saying, “DOCCS has occasionally hired a physician with a restriction on their medical license, and those physicians are monitored closely and re-assessed frequently. They are only kept at DOCCS if their clinical and professional work is competent, and the restriction is temporary and eventually lifted.”

Are medical boards ultimately to blame?

Some attorneys and other patient advocates say the problem can be traced to the reluctance of state medical boards (largely comprised of doctors) from permanently revoking doctors’ licenses. This allows them to eventually practice medicine again, even if the only place they can find work is in the prison system.

It can be challenging for incarcerated people and their families to speak up about medical malpractice and negligence when it causes harm or death. However, they have just as much right to justice and compensation as anyone else. Getting legal guidance is a good place to start.

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