>>> April 18, 2002

The caring hands

A review of the doctors in the employ of Uncle Sam have turned some curious results, and shone a light on the sort of care the U.S.’s underprivileged and war vets might expect to receive. An Associated Press study of disciplinary board records revealed that at least 118 federal doctors working in the past two years had been hired despite previous convictions for everything from incompetence to child molesting to drug abuse. One doctor, reprimanded for not mentioning she had been found guilty of involvement with a terrorist group in Switzerland, currently works as a blood cancer specialist at a California Vet’s hospital.
Citizens’ rights advocates argue that the government has a greater responsibility to those who depend on them for health care. Though federal agencies have to do background checks, there’s no rule against adding to the roster a doctor with a criminal record, revoked license or history of medical discipline. :

—Scott Saxon