Illinois Professionals Health Program now Monitoring Doctors with Sexual Misconduct Allegations
Side note: The Illinois Professionals Health Program, the same organization that has drawn criticism for its lack of transparency while monitoring health professionals with records of substance abuse, has been made responsible for the monitoring of doctors with a history of sexual misconduct. Opponents charge that the “off-the-book”, secretive nature of the program does not provide patients with the transparency that they deserve. While the state’s medical malpractice insurance lobby, the sponsor of the program, ensures that the program is more than adequate to protect the citizens of Illinois.
By Megan Twohey
Chicago Tribune
A private program that has long kept secret watch over Illinois doctors receiving substance-abuse treatment is now monitoring health care professionals with sexual misconduct violations — including some convicted of crimes.
Begun several decades ago by the state’s doctors’ lobby, the Illinois Professionals Health Program has drawn criticism for the off-the-books nature of its work and its lack of accountability.
That it has expanded its reach to sex-offending health workers has heightened the controversy. Critics say such individuals don’t belong in a program shrouded in secrecy. Sexual misconduct demands disciplinary action, they say, not just treatment. And the public deserves to know who violators are.
