With some doctors complaining the Texas Medical Board is too harsh and several lawmakers saying it’s time to rein in the board, you might think it’s one of the tougher boards in the country. So do you think Texas ranks among the top 10 toughest board in the U.S.? Guess again. Top half? Not even.
Based on rankings released this week by Public Citizen, a nonprofit that ranks boards every year based on the rate of serious disciplinary actions taken, Texas falls in the bottom half of the states when it comes to meting out serious discipline. Texas was 33rd among the 50 states and the District of Columbia based on how often it has revoked a medical license, had a doctor surrender a license, suspended a licensed or restricted a license, according to the rankings.
Minnesota had the lowest number of serious disciplinary actions against doctors, while Alaska had the most. But because Alaska has a small population, it didn’t take many actions to be No. 1, just 11 in 2008, the report says. Looking at the rest of the top five is a little more useful: Kentucky, Ohio, Arizona and Oklahoma.
Overall, however, medical boards are less aggressive than they were in 2004, when the number of serious disciplinary actions peaked, the report says.
