More New York Doctors Disciplined: Study

The New York Public Interest Research Group reports the state disciplined 468 doctors last year, 155 more than a year earlier.

NYPIRG says the health department’s Office of Professional Medical Conduct found medical negligence in 59 cases, revoking or suspending 14 of those doctors’ licenses to practice in New York.

The report notes the department received 8,501 conduct complaints against doctors in 2010, half from the public and only six percent from other doctors or providers.

The nonprofit consumer advocacy group says the number of New York-licensed physicians has risen to 83,000 this year, up about 36 percent in a decade while the population stayed nearly flat.

NYPIRG is advocating that the state require doctors to tell patients, or their families, when they’ve been hurt by a medical mistake.