Tina Minasian urges the California State Senate to consider the implications of AB 408, which proposes a diversion and treatment program for doctors with substance use disorders and mental health issues. Her own experience with an alcoholic surgeon emphasizes the potential risks to patients. While the bill, which passed the State Assembly without opposition, aims to address the high rates of substance use among physicians, critics warn about the dangers of allowing unsafe practitioners to operate. The state currently lacks such a program, impacting accountability.
Imagine if it was your mother, father, brother, sister, daughter, son or grandchild: would you want them to be operated on by a doctor in a secret treatment program?
The unfortunate reality is that there are physicians practicing today who are unsafe, and we don't find out about them until we receive a complaint or we read about their arrest in the news.
California is currently one of just several states in the country without such a program for physicians.
The bill, sponsored by the California Medical Board, would allow the regulatory agency to once again establish a diversion and treatment program for doctors.
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