Medical Board
Justice has not been served by your recent articles and editorial (“Outrageous Abuse of the Public Trust,” Jan. 26) comments critical of the Medical Board of California.
The California Highway Patrol’s report, alleging employee misconduct and case-dumping, is seriously flawed. Only allegations from complainants were recorded and the accused have never had a chance to explain their side of the story.
The board has done an excellent job in monitoring and disciplining physicians in this state since the 1975 legislation. All studies have shown that California leads all other states in effectiveness and efficiency in physician regulation. In California this is not a trivial pursuit, but demands under statute clear and convincing evidence of extreme departures from medical care.
Your articles are unfair to the taxpayers, the physician community, the board members (both physician and non-physician), and the civil servants and peace officers who are doing the best job in the country of regulating doctors.
RICHARD M. IKEDA MD
Chief Medical Consultant
Medical Board of California
Sacramento
Get the L.A. Times Politics newsletter
Deeply reported insights into legislation, politics and policy from Sacramento, Washington and beyond. In your inbox three times per week.
You may occasionally receive promotional content from the Los Angeles Times.
