Last month the Star News took an important look at what North Carolina is doing to protect the state’s health and safety when it comes to medical malpractice. Their conclusions? Although the state has taken important steps towards making sure our doctors are qualified and our hospitals are regulated, the North Carolina Medical Board is impeding progress.
In the past months, the Medical Board has decided to publish all malpractice settlements of more than $25,000 since Oct. 1, 2007. However, complaints from the North Carolina Medical Society said that the dollar amount was too low and should be raised, and the North Carolina House agreed on a $75,000 limit. The bill is now in the hands of the Senate.
North Carolina has come a long way, the Star News writes, from being one of the worst states in the nation for doctor discipline to being 14th in the nation. However, bending to the will of the Medical Society and making 30% of malpractice case information unavailable to the public will only keep us less informed and less safe.