Addicted doctors still practice while in rehab

SAN FRANCISCO - Troubling cases in which doctors were accused of botching operations while undergoing treatment for drugs or alcohol have led to criticism of rehab programs that allow thousands of U.S. physicians to keep their addictions hidden from their patients.

Nearly all states have confidential rehab programs that let doctors continue practicing as long as they stick with the treatment regimen. Nationwide, as many as 8,000 doctors may be in such programs, by one estimate.

These arrangements largely escaped public scrutiny until last summer, when California's medical board outraged physicians across the country by abolishing its 27-year-old program. A review concluded that the system failed to protect patients or help addicted doctors get better.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/22314486/

I bet if someone digs deep enough.......we will find HUGE payola piles.

If there were transparency and accountability, the organization which currently monopolizes the rehab industry would lose power and influence, and we would have to resort to 21st-century medical science.

That could mean *solving or alleviating a public health problem.* Can't have that. :sarcasm: