Research shows that medical boards rarely discipline physicians’ misinformation

Despite increased concerns about physicians spreading false medical claims during the COVID-19 pandemic, medical boards rarely take disciplinary action against physicians for spreading misinformation, according to a new study by Richard S. Saver, Arch T. Allen Distinguished Professor of Law from the University of North Carolina School of Law and professor in the Department of Social Medicine at the UNC School of Medicine.

The work is published in JAMA network opened.

By analyzing more than 3,100 disciplinary proceedings by medical boards in the country’s five most populous states, Saver found that spreading misinformation to the public was the least common reason for physicians’ discipline, accounting for only 0.1% of constituted all disciplinary violations. Even when doctors spread misinformation directly to patients, this resulted in discipline only 0.3% of the time – exponentially lower than more common reasons such as doctor negligence (28.7%).

“There is a striking discrepancy between medical boards’ statements about the dangers of physician misinformation, as well as increasing public attention to the problem, and actual enforcement actions,” Saver said. “Even within the small number of actions involving misinformation, the data show that boards are much more comfortable disciplining physicians for misconduct involving direct patient care than addressing erroneous public statements. Yet false public communications can cause greater damage.”

The study, which examined disciplinary actions from January 2020 through May 2023, found that medical boards face significant challenges in policing physician misinformation, particularly in communications addressed to the general public rather than to individuals patients. This raises important questions about whether the current medical board system is equipped to tackle the modern challenge of medical misinformation.

“Medical boards have traditionally focused on monitoring the doctor-patient relationship,” Saver explains. “But in today’s digital age, where a single doctor spreading misinformation can influence thousands of people, our regulatory framework may need to evolve.”