CMA Objects to Public Disclosure of
Medical Board Citations Without Due Process
[Posted 02/24/05]

At the Medical Board of California’s quarterly meeting, CMA objected to the public disclosure of citations before physicians have been given the opportunity to appeal. The board issues approximately 500 citations each year. Currently, all citations are posted on the medical board’s website before physicians have had a chance to exercise their legal right to dispute the allegations through either an informal interview with investigators or a full administrative hearing.

“It is clearly not fair for a physician who makes a timely objection to the citation and asks for a full due process hearing on the matter to have the citation nonetheless disclosed to the public without any qualification as to its validity,” wrote CMA President Robert E. Hertzka, M.D., in an earlier letter to the medical board on this matter.

The board’s Division of Medical Quality agreed that the process should be fair to physicians and has agreed to revise its procedures.

Contact: Sandra Bressler, 415/882-5171 or sbressler@cmanet.org.