With some prodding, medical boards start to see light about records

The Board of Medical Examiners has seen the light. I'd like to think I had a little something to do with that. But credit goes to Assembly Speaker Barbara Buckley, the 271 people who flooded the board office with calls and Gov. Jim Gibbons. Plus timing.

Meanwhile, the Board of Osteopathic Medicine seems to be moving in the same direction.

In July, I pounded the Board of Medical Examiners for removing information about malpractice settlements and judgments from its Web site, www.medboard.nv.gov. In June 2005, the malpractice material, available for three years, was taken down because board members thought it made doctors look bad.

I quoted Buckley as favoring the information's return. The board did nothing.

A month ago, I penned another column with a bit more attitude, saying the information is darned well public and should be on the board's Web site.

Board Chairman Dr. Javaid Anwar was quoted saying he hadn't received any urging from the public to return the information to the site, and none of the other eight board members had asked it be put on the agenda for reconsideration.

The devil made me do it.

I urged people to tell the board they wanted the information accessible without having to call the board. If you did call, you were limited to asking about two doctors a day.

Some 271 people called. Eight e-mailed. The two board receptionists probably cursed my name.

Coincidentally, the day before, health officials said six people had picked up hepatitis C at the Endoscopy Center of Southern Nevada because syringes were reused and vials of anesthesia contaminated.

Some 40,000 people were supposed to be informed that to be on the safe side they should get tested for hepatitis B and C and HIV.

Some of those 40,000 might want to check on the malpractice cases against certain doctors.

My complaint seemed timelier all of a sudden. Oh, and all of this occurred during a federal court case in which doctors were admitting to various misdeeds.

At Friday's Board of Examiners' meeting, Jean Stoess, a lay member of the board, said she'd like to study what other states do and then talk to the state Department of Information Technology about how to improve the board's Web site. No vote was taken, but the board seems to be heading toward better public access.

Executive Director Tony Clark said it would probably take three to six months to reload the information once the decision is made.

After my column ran, the Las Vegas Sun did an editorial supporting reinstating the materials that were removed in June 2005. The Reno Gazette-Journal did a news story on the topic.

The board in 2005 also rejected such helpful ideas as listing a doctor's education. Why would that be a bad thing?

After my second column, Speaker Buckley wrote Anwar, quoting the law about how physicians are required to report malpractice actions to the board and "all reports made by a physician pursuant to this section are public records."

"Your position with regard to this matter is confusing and contradictory," Buckley wrote. "If the information is available by telephone, why not make it available through the Internet?"

Gibbons also insisted this information belonged on the Web site.

All the regulatory boards need to heed Gibbons and Buckley's words. It's a brave new world, and not putting information on the Internet is just another way of hiding information.

I was getting ready to praise the Board of Osteopathic Medicine because it was preparing to put malpractice issues on its new Web site at www.bom.nv.gov. Staff had been working on getting the information on the Web site by April, checking that the information is accurate and up-to-date.

But now that's delayed. On Monday, the board said they wanted it put on the May 14 agenda for discussion.

Does Buckley need to write an edgy letter?

Executive Director Dr. Larry Tarno said he's going to urge the board to make the information available on the Web site because by law it is public. Tarno gets it. "You can't give the impression you're trying to suppress any information that's public," Tarno says.

Meanwhile, wouldn't it make sense that the two boards that govern physicians in Nevada should make the same information available?

Just goes to support my view that the two boards should become one.

Jane Ann Morrison's column appears Monday, Thursday and Saturday. E-mail her at Jane@reviewjournal.com or call (702) 383-0275.