Medical malpractice records in Illinois are now behind closed doors

At one time, the good people of Illinois could see physician’s records. This is no longer the case, however, as the state took them off its website.

Complete information about licensed doctors in the state of Illinois used to be on the state’s website. It was a popular site, getting at least 130,000 visitors per week. Obviously, people wanted to know about the doctor they were seeing, and for two years, they could do just that. Much to the chagrin of very interested patients, they can’t do that anymore. The information was taken off the site by the state Department of Financial and Professional Regulation. Why? Unfortunately, politics is the answer. The Legislature and the Supreme Court have Democratic majorities.

Detailed records were required to be posted in 2005, but the clause mandating that rule had a caveat; if the court struck down med mal caps, the doctor’s records would be removed. The Illinois Supreme court did strike down med mal caps and so went the physician’s records. This is highly unfortunate, as that online information showed if a doctor had been committed of a crime, was fired from a hospital or had made a med mal payment in the past five years. Patients appreciated knowing this information. Chicago medical malpractice lawyers found it illuminating as well. If you go looking online today, all you can find is if the agency has disciplined a doctor.

Despite the fact that Democrats say they are aligned with the working people and the less fortunate, removing this type of vital information says more than words could possibly say. The old saying; “Actions speak louder than words,” is highly relevant here. Removing the kind of information people need to know about their doctors is putting patient safety in jeopardy. Can you imagine taking your kids to a doctor who had been found negligent?

Since when has medical care become a close second to playing Russian roulette? Even though the vast majority of physicians do a fine and outstanding job, Chicago medical malpractice lawyers have seen more than enough bad things happen to fill a book. Mistakes happen, people are negligent, doctors are humans and doctors may be negligent.

In defense of the removal of doctor’s complete records, the Illinois State Medical Society says they would drain restricted state resources. And if patients want to know about their doctors, they can find more information from commercial websites, insurers or medical associations. If patients could find that stuff out from those areas, they likely would have been doing that in the first place. It’s also rather striking to note that those resources are all controlled by the medical profession.

The bottom line is, if the people truly want to be heard, they need to make some changes where it counts.

Christopher Mellino is a Cleveland Malpractice Lawyer specializing in Cleveland Medical Malpractice cases in Ohio. To learn more, visit Christophermellino.com.

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