The Medical Board of California has voted to support public disclosure of all medical malpractice settlements involving physicians, which would significantly expand public access to information about doctors.
At a meeting Saturday in Newport Beach, the board voted unanimously to distribute the information on its Web site, if the Legislature approves. Two board members abstained from voting.
The medical board, which licenses, investigates and disciplines doctors, currently does not disclose any information about malpractice settlements.
Its Web site provides information on California disciplinary actions against doctors; malpractice verdicts or arbitration awards; felony criminal convictions; major hospital disciplinary actions; and sanctions by other states' medical boards.
Dr. Gary Gitnick, the board's new president, said his colleagues have "very progressive ideas."
"It clearly is a board that realizes that its prime reason for existence is public protection," said Gitnick, a UCLA gastroenterologist. "And one element of public protection is making it possible for any member of the public to learn as much as they can about their physicians, both good and bad."
If the board's recommendations are adopted by lawmakers, members said they would like to release malpractice settlements dating back five years.
By proposing to make public malpractice settlements of any size, the board went further than suggestions made by lawmakers earlier this month. On May 1, the Joint Legislative Sunset Review Committee supported disclosing malpractice settlements above $150,000, as well as the names of doctors who had three or more settlements above $30,000 in a 10-year period.
The legislative panel and the medical board agree on several other areas of public disclosure. They include misdemeanor convictions related to physicians' qualifications and functions, along with board referrals to the state attorney general's office for disciplinary action.
The California Medical Assn. and malpractice insurance carriers have strongly opposed release of settlement information. The liability insurers obtained a temporary injunction this year barring the medical board from releasing settlement information requested by the San Francisco Chronicle.
Leaders of the doctors group have said they fear that the public might misinterpret the data.
