State medical boards allow thousands of physicians to keep practicing medicine after findings of serious misconduct, a USA TODAY investigation shows. Comments from Facebook are edited for clarity and grammar:

Review boards look at cases where doctors make mistakes. That's also why physicians have malpractice insurance.

As the child of two doctors, I want to remind you that physicians are human beings. Humans make mistakes and, under intense pressure such as in a case in which someone is severely suffering, misdiagnosis is not uncommon because of all the factors involved.

People mistakenly think doctors can solve all their problems. So many people think physicians are gods, and they're not!

— Tom Baker

Unfortunately, the first person to think that a doctor is a god is usually the doctor. Yes, everyone makes mistakes, but if one person is making a lot more mistakes than most, it is time to consider a career change. Sure, doctors are only human, but when you make mistakes that kill people, it is not OK.

Frank Pestore

The medical boards seem to have the doctors' best interest in mind, not the patients'. Why are the boards so afraid to get rid of bad doctors?

Yes, mistakes happen. But when there is blatant misuse of power, why do the boards find these doctors are still fit to practice?

Don Atkinson

People who work in health care should be registered at the national level.

For example, if you're banned in one state, you should be banned in all states.

Wayne Leslie

Medical boards have significant power to take licenses — if they choose. Medicine is a very regulated industry. Also, checks come from insurance companies, government, lawyers and peer-review entities.

The practice of medicine is now transitioning to so many other non-physician providers, including pharmacists, nurse practitioners, physician assistants and others.

Loss of standards and regulation by the boards is widespread.

Paul Kempen

Letters to the editor:


USA TODAY ran an investigative story uncovering the fact that thousands of health care providers are allowed to continue to practice medicine despite repeat errors ("Thousands of doctors practicing despite errors, misconduct").

Each year, up to 98,000 Americans die from preventable medical errors, but as USA TODAY uncovered, state medical boards and hospitals are failing to report and discipline dangerous health care providers. One of the only sources for accountability is the civil justice system. Hospitals and health care providers have an incentive to put patient safety first when they know they will be held accountable if patients are injured.

If no one is accountable, no one is safe. Any limits on access to accountability through the courts leave every American at risk.

Burton LeBlanc, president, American Association for Justice; Washington, D.C.

USA TODAY's article on doctor misconduct failed to emphasize one very obvious point: Medicine is one of the very few industries allowed largely to self-regulate.

As we've seen with the banking industry, allowing groups of individuals to regulate themselves doesn't work.

Until a way is found for physicians to be effectively regulated by non-physicians, bad doctors continuing to practice medicine will not go away.

Chris Binder; Ashley, Ohio