Financial toll
Dr. Haney started her medical career when she was 42 as a second career. She says the board investigations and actions have resulted in a significant loss of work and income. “I have only worked 14 of the past 17 years as a doctor. I live cheaply because I never know how much longer my career will last,” says Dr. Haney.
The ordeal has devastated her finances. She has shelled out at least $200,000 in legal fees – she hired an attorney in 2007 and filed a lawsuit against the board in Oregon district court alleging that members had violated several of her rights. The district judge sided with the state medical board, and it was upheld on appeal in 2012, referring to state laws that gave the board absolute immunity from civil lawsuits. “I had no legal recourse to contest their decisions, no matter how injurious or unjust,” says Dr. Haney.
She has also shelled out at least $100,000 to be evaluated and monitored by the health physician program (now HPSP) for several years. Physicians who agree to be monitored by these health programs have to pay their fees. The board finally agreed last July to end her HPSP participation.
Dr. Haney also filed a complaint in 2007 with the federal Department of Health & Human Services Office for Civil Rights, alleging that the board violated her civil rights under the Americans with Disabilities Act. She says that her lawsuit and the OCR investigation of the board enabled her to withdraw from the HPP in good standing in 2008..
What would she have done differently?
She regrets not hiring an attorney earlier because “most likely the board action would not have been made public. It snowballed after that -- any mistake I made in my career was viewed in the lens of potential impairment.”
She also regrets telling her employer about the nature of her illness and reporting it to the board. A psychiatrist she saw later shared advice he gives to other patients who want to remain anonymous: get help but go out of town, use a false name, and pay cash.
“I wish I had that advice when all this started. That was the best way to protect my career,” says Dr. Haney.
Protecting the public?
The Oregon Medical Board declined to comment on Dr. Haney’s experience because investigations are confidential, but the executive director, Nicole Krishnaswami, JD, answered questions in an email about how the current board operates.
She says the board has 11 medical professionals and employs a medical director and expert consultants in specialty-specific fields. MDs with mental health training are involved in investigating/reviewing cases involving doctors with mental illnesses.
“State medical boards have a responsibility to protect and inform the public. State laws further require state agencies to provide access and transparency regarding the board’s official actions. If the board receives a complaint that a licensee is impaired and thus unable to safely practice, the board has a responsibility to investigate and ensure the licensee is practicing medicine safely,” Ms. Krishnaswami said.
The HPSP is the monitoring program established by state law to provide oversight in order to ensure that licensees are not practicing while impaired. HPSP is separate from the board and the board adopted a statement outlining its perspective on the program in support of doctors with substance abuse and mental health disorder.
The board also founded the Oregon Wellness Program, which provides free, confidential counseling to all Oregon-licensed physicians and physician assistants.