The Price Plaintiffs Pay

The United States District Court for the District of Columbia (Judge Cooper) denied a stay pending appeal to a medical doctor suing the US for revocation of her clinical privileges and removal 

Dr. Doe seeks a stay to prevent the VA from reporting her loss of privileges and termination in the National Practitioner Database (“NPDB”). The NPDB is a web-based repository of reports containing information on adverse actions related to health care practitioners, providers, and suppliers. About Us, National Practitioner Data Bank (https://www.npdb.hrsa.gov/topNavigation/aboutUs.jsp). The reports are confidential and accessible to health care entities and medical licensing boards but are not available to the general public. Id. The stated mission of the NPDB is to “improve health care quality, protect the public, and reduce health care fraud and abuse in the U.S.” Id.

The onus for reporting to the NPDB stems from federal regulations. The VA is required to report the revocation of Dr. Doe’s privileges and her termination to the NPDB 38 C.F.R. § 46.4 (requiring the VA to file an “adverse action report” with the NPDB for actions that adversely affect clinical privileges); 45 C.F.R. § 60.5 (requiring reporting to the NPDB “within 30 days following the action to be reported”). The Court’s summary judgment ruling passed no judgment on whether the VA must report Doe’s adverse disciplinary record to the relevant oversight bodies.

The US sought to have her proceed under her name rather than as Jane Doe

While the Court declines to rule on this issue, it offers the following observations. Each year, scores of federal employees like Dr. Doe challenge agency personnel actions before courts across the country. When they do so, the public record reveals what actions were taken and the agency’s grounds for them. Those grounds include findings of unprofessionalism, incompetence, misconduct, and worse. The disclosure of that information – which is only a Google search away from anyone interested in finding it – is no doubt harmful in some respects to each plaintiff’s professional reputation and future job prospects. But transparency is the norm in judicial proceedings. So it is a price plaintiffs pay for their day in court. These plaintiffs run the occupational gamut, from secretaries and scientists to librarians and lawyers. The Court sees no reason to treat Doe differently just because she is a doctor.

(Mike Frisch)