Direct measures of physician performance are hard to come by. There is no nationally standardized system for routine measurement of outcomes of physicians’ treatments. An indirect measure of incompetence is malpractice claims, but only claims that result in a payment to the patient are recorded, ab...
a serious conflict of interest. Threatened loss of licensure deters vulnerable physicians from seeking help, and may even trigger a suicidal crisis. Medical Boards have the duty to safeguard the public, but the assumption that mental illness equals medical incompetence is an archaic...