AANS Hears Complaints, Takes Action
The Professional Conduct Committee of the American Association of Neurological Surgeons (AANS) provides a forum and due process for any AANS member to prosecute a complaint against another member. In the past five years the committee has averaged one to two hearings each year. To date the vast majority of complaints have been about the nature of testimony in a medical malpractice lawsuit. Complainants have included the defendants in such lawsuits as well as non-party witnesses disturbed by what they consider to have been improper testimony by another member.
The AANS has been in the forefront among professional societies in disciplining members for giving legal testimony that is biased or fails to accurately reflect the art and science of the specialty. The Austin v. AANS decision in the 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals recognized the value of our association’s oversight and discipline in improving the quality of neurosurgical testimony.
Sanctions over the last 15-plus years in professional conduct disputes break down into these approximate percentages:
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35% 25% 5% |
In about 25 percent of cases the complaints were dismissed for lack of merit. In approximately 12 percent, letters of admonition or warnings were sent (such letters are not a formal sanction). On one occasion the AANS Board of Directors increased the sanction from the committee’s recommendation of censure to suspension. On two occasions the board ordered letters of admonition rather the censure recommended by the committee. Two neurosurgeons have been brought before the committee twice, resulting in a six-month suspension for one and expulsion for the other.
Censure is not reportable to the National Practitioner Data Bank, but for either suspension or revocation such reporting is required. In November 2001 the AANS Board of Directors approved a recommendation from the Council of State Neurosurgical Societies that the names of sanctioned members be reported in the AANS Bulletin. This practice will be in effect for complaints heard after Jan. 1, 2002.
The Professional Conduct Committee currently consists of Ulrich Batzdorf, MD, W. Ben Blackett, MD, JD, Joseph Hahn, MD, and Donald Quest, MD.
W. Ben Blackett, MD, JD, is chair of the AANS Professional Conduct Committee.