118 Doctors Employed by Federal Government in Last Two Years Have Questionable Backgrounds, Review Finds

At least 118 doctors employed by federal government health programs have past convictions for crimes or a history of disciplinary action from state medical boards, an Associated Press review of medical licenses found. Federal agencies must perform background checks on doctors that they plan to hire. However, the AP/Baltimore Sun reports that federal agencies -- such as the Department of Veterans Affairs and the Indian Health Service -- may employ doctors with criminal records, revoked licenses or a history of disciplinary problems, provided the physicians have a license to practice medicine in one state. The Associated Press review found that 0.5% of the 20,800 doctors employed by the federal government in the past two years had prior convictions for crimes or a history of disciplinary action, compared with 2.6% for doctors not employed by the government. According to the Associated Press review:

• The VA health system employed 75 of the 118 federal doctors with criminal or disciplinary records; the Indian Health Service employed 14.
• At least five of the doctors had a record of disciplinary action for negligence that resulted in the death of a patient.
• Eleven of the doctors had past criminal convictions for charges that included child pornography, Medicaid fraud and theft of prescription drugs from the VA system.
• Eighteen of the doctors were punished for sexual misconduct, and 37 received punishment for drug violations.