Nineteen states readily provide malpractice records and other information about their doctors, but Minnesota is not one of those states.
In Minnesota, the Minnesota Board of Medical Practice has resisted providing the public with information regarding malpractice, along with other disciplinary actions against doctors. Other states have the option to research this information online before choosing a doctor.
Minnesota residents deserve to know all of the information about a certain doctor before going under the knife. This includes malpractice, disciplinary occurrences and criminal history. As long as the public medical information provides the entire story of each incident, Minnesotans will be able to confidently choose doctors. Currently, Minnesotans can find out information about our doctors through other statesâÄô websites, but thatâÄôs not enough.
Robert Leach, the medical boardâÄôs executive director, thinks that people do have a right to know about their doctors, the Star Tribune reported. However, this would require the board to seek legislative approval.
The medical board should provide this information to the public in order to provide better service to the people, not to harm the doctorsâÄô reputations in any way. Ten years ago, former board member Kris Sandra attempted to make this information available to the public. Sandra was met with major opposition, and the plan never succeeded.
Information like malpractice and criminal records should not be kept from the public, especially about people we put so much trust in. Minnesota should provide full histories of our doctorsâÄô practices so we can make fully researched and informed decisions.