Malpractice Info Missing from Connecticut Docs Profiles

The Connecticut Public Health Department’s online doctor database frequently omits information about past malpractice payments, making it difficult for patients to make informed decisions.

The Hartford Courant reports that there are more than 100 doctor on the site whose malpractice cases are missing. That’s about one out of every six who have made payments in recent years for harming or killing patients who appear to have clean records.

A department spokesman says it appears the malpractice information was omitted when the physician profiles were moved to a new site. He says the agency is updating.

Jean Rexford, executive director of the nonprofit Connecticut Center for Patient Safety, says incomplete information on malpractice payments prevents patients from making informed medical care choices.