California Medical Board’s future challenging, uncertain

Many things are writ large in California, with attached dimensions that are flatly outsized when compared with all other states spanning the country.

Tech enterprises, for instance. Agriculture. The sprawling freeway system. The entertainment industry. The state’s population.

And for purposes of this blog, the size, scope and clout of regulatory agencies.

Especially the Medical Board of California, which commands central attention in today’s post.

The board is, well, big. Reportedly, it has oversight and enforcement powers over approximately 152,000 California doctors.

That sheer clout keeps it in the news, sometimes in ways that likely make some of its 15 members cringe.

The bottom line: The board is well accustomed to criticism, which is now front and center relevant to accusations that it is routinely lax in doling out meaningful discipline to bad MDs who harm patients.

The backlash is arguably unsurprising. With scores of thousands of physicians being under its regulatory radar, disciplinary outcomes that fail to satisfy public sentiment are bound to occur.

These days the board itself is under an onslaught of withering condemnation. A growing public clamor surrounds its composition, with many critics – including even some board members – saying that majority doctor representation should be diminished. A national article on the matter stresses that, if the panel’s makeup morphs to a public member majority, “California will become the first such state medical board in the nation to do so.”

Time will tell regarding that potential outcome, of course.

In the meantime, it merits noting that the board’s alleged laxity on problem doctors is hardly a unanimous opinion. High numbers of MDs respected within their profession have been slapped with significant disciplinary sanctions by the board. They know it has teeth and is far from an agency that routinely forgives alleged medical lapses.

Questions or concerns regarding board investigatory probes and disciplinary charges can be directed to an established law firm that safeguards professionals’ license credentials and practice prerogatives statewide.