Lawmaker Introduces Doctor-credential Verification Legislation
From the Chicago Tribune
Illinois would require doctors to verify their academic, employment and disciplinary records through an independent national service before receiving a license to practice in the state, if legislation filed Tuesday by state Rep. Mary Flowers, D-Chicago, were to become law.
Flowers announced the proposed change to the Medical Practice Act at a committee hearing on physician background checks. The hearing was scheduled after the Tribune reported last month how Dr. Anthony Garcia, charged with killing four people, was able to hold a medical license in Illinois for a decade despite troubles in various residency programs.
"To say that Dr. Garcia was able to keep his record hidden in Illinois, it wasn't hidden," Flowers said. "No one went to look for it, that's what it was."
Before issuing a license, Illinois checks the National Practitioner Data Bank and the Federation of State Medical Boards for actions taken against a doctor's hospital privileges and medical license.
Those databases, however, may not catch resident warnings, terminations, nonrenewals and withdrawals, officials said.
Garcia failed to complete two residencies before being kicked out of a pathology program at the University of Illinois at Chicago for "substandard" behavior. He later was fired from a fourth residency in Louisiana when the state discovered discrepancies on his application through the credentials verification service that is offered by the Federation of State Medical Boards.
Read more in our daily News Update...
From the Chicago Tribune
Illinois would require doctors to verify their academic, employment and disciplinary records through an independent national service before receiving a license to practice in the state, if legislation filed Tuesday by state Rep. Mary Flowers, D-Chicago, were to become law.
Flowers announced the proposed change to the Medical Practice Act at a committee hearing on physician background checks. The hearing was scheduled after the Tribune reported last month how Dr. Anthony Garcia, charged with killing four people, was able to hold a medical license in Illinois for a decade despite troubles in various residency programs.
"To say that Dr. Garcia was able to keep his record hidden in Illinois, it wasn't hidden," Flowers said. "No one went to look for it, that's what it was."
Before issuing a license, Illinois checks the National Practitioner Data Bank and the Federation of State Medical Boards for actions taken against a doctor's hospital privileges and medical license.
Those databases, however, may not catch resident warnings, terminations, nonrenewals and withdrawals, officials said.
Garcia failed to complete two residencies before being kicked out of a pathology program at the University of Illinois at Chicago for "substandard" behavior. He later was fired from a fourth residency in Louisiana when the state discovered discrepancies on his application through the credentials verification service that is offered by the Federation of State Medical Boards.
Read more in our daily News Update...