opinion
Fake doctors are the business of prosecutors, not medical boards
LETTER — Posted Oct. 1, 2012
Regarding: “FTC decision jeopardizes authority of medical boards, doctors say” (Column, Aug. 20):
I’m sort of with the Federal Trade Commission on this one. Of course you need a medical board to make ethical and professional judgments about doctors, and I wouldn’t want anyone else doing it. But if a nondoctor performs surgery, you don’t need a medical board to determine that he or she is breaking the law, and a “cease-and-desist letter” seems like weak stuff. I’d rather get a court order, as the FTC suggests, or, better yet, get the attorney general to bring charges. The FTC’s perception in this case, that a bunch of dentists are protecting their turf, is likely to be the public perception also.
Let doctors regulate doctors, dentists regulate dentists, and let the cops deal with the pretend doctors and dentists.
William Braden, MD, Providence, R.I.
Note: This item originally appeared at http://www.ama-assn.org/amednews/2012/10/01/edlt1001.htm.
