There are several reasons why doctors lose their medical licenses, including insurance fraud, substance abuse, patient abuse, unethical behavior, and drug violations. To avoid losing their licenses, it’s important for doctors to understand what constitutes these offenses and how to avoid them. The following is a breakdown of each offense and how they can result in the revocation of a license.
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Insurance Fraud
Doctors are required to practice honesty with not only their patients but also insurance companies. Medical professionals engage in insurance fraud if they make illicit changes to medical records, intentionally use incorrect codes, or require uninsured patients to pay more than insured patients. If a licensing board discovers this fraud, they are likely to revoke a fraudulent doctor’s license.
Substance Abuse
When practicing, all medical professionals must be sober and of sound mind on the job. If the licensing board discovers that a doctor has been practicing while engaging in substance abuse, including the use of drugs or alcohol, this is often grounds for having a license revoked. However, licensing boards may be able to help medical professionals seek treatment if they take responsibility for their substance abuse.
Patient Abuse
Patients trust their doctors to do what’s in their best interest, but some doctors may violate that trust to abuse patients in a number of ways. They may engage in physical, verbal, or sexual abuse that causes deliberate harm to patients, leading to the abusive doctor losing his or her license.
Breach of Ethics
Medical professionals are expected to treat all patients equally, without any discrimination based on gender, race, religion, or other factors. Any instances of discrimination could lead the board to revoke a doctor’s license.
Prescription Drug Violations
Doctors are permitted to prescribe different types of medication to patients depending on their condition, but they are prohibited from prescribing any medications that patients don’t need. In some cases, medical licensing boards discover that doctors are prescribing medications that patients don’t require, or selling drugs for personal profit, which can be dangerous to patients and illegal. Following an investigation, the licensing board is likely to revoke the doctor’s license to prevent him or her from engaging in similar activity in the future.
Avoiding these issues and behaviors can help doctors keep their medical licenses. In doing so, they also contribute to a healthy community and maintain their reputation.
