In January of this year, the Mininno Law Office Blog posted about an act in Illinois government, passed by the House of Representatives and awaiting Senate approval, that would make available background information on medical providers throughout the state. On August 10th, Illinois Governor Pat Quinn signed into law the Patients’ Right to Know Act. This law will allow patients full access to the history of doctors and specialists, providing knowledge of medical malpractice lawsuits and/or payouts that the doctor has been involved in. More informed decisions can be made, and it can also be argued that the availablity of this information will force physicians to provide better care to patients in order to remain in business. The public release of this information could do far more damage to a negligent doctor’s practice than word of mouth ever could.
Patients Will Now Have Access to Crucial Information
The doctors have been provided a sixty day window to edit and review their online profiles before they become accessible to the public. If doctors provide false information, and mislead potential healthcare consumers, lawyers believe that they will be subject to different forms of discipline. Other information that will be included in these profiles includes the medical schools they attended, specialty board certification, number of years in practice, location of practice, and whether or not the doctor participates in Medicaid.
While passage of the law might be a large step for patients in Illinois, is it really a win? With the ability to edit their profiles, will doctors really be providing all of the information patients would want to see? It might be slightly naive to believe that patients will now be fully informed before they select a doctor or physician. Medical malpractice attorneys believe that allowing patients to see if a doctor has been making malpractice payments in recent years will shed light on the diligence and professionalism of physicians before they are chosen. But whether or not this law will allow for that has yet to be seen.
Medical Malpractice Attorneys in New Jersey and Philadelphia
If you or a family member has recently been the victim of medical negligence, it is possible that you would like to speak with our professionals. Please contact the Mininno Law Office for a free case evaluation, or call for a free consultation at (856) 833-0600 in New Jersey, or (215) 567-2380 in Philadelphia.
An 82-year-old man from Illinois died this month at Heartland Healthcare nursing home. According to the police report, Irvin W. Brackett was found by nursing assistant Annette Payton at 10:30 p.m. on the floor with an oxygen tube and electrical cord wrapped around his neck and tied to an assistance lever that was hanging over his bed. Payton immediately called other nurses for help. They removed the constraints and began emergency resuscitation. An ambulance was called to help but nothing could be done and the nursing home called for the coroner at 12:16 a.m. Brackett was pronounced dead at the scene by the Knox County Coroner Mark Thomas. According to Thomas: 
The federally backed watchdog that performed the investigations, Equip for Equality, found the care provisions at Alden Village North deplorable. Illnesses were never treated properly, lab tests and results went ignored, doctors failed to return pages of medical charts, and investigations into resident deaths were superficial and incomplete. 
Spears was able to leave this facility with his walker late at night, without any nursing home staff doing as much as asking him where he was going.
Many argue that making this information available is unfair to medical providers, but in actuality, it’s keeping this information from unsuspecting patients that is unfair. Choosing a doctor, in some cases, can be a life and death situation. It is more fair to leave up to the patient’s discretion whether or not they will let that doctor provide them treatment, having already been informed about any malpractice or legal trouble that doctor has been in. 