Physician Impairment and Rehabilitation
Authors: Nicholas D. Lawson, J. Wesley Boyd
Journal: Annals of Internal Medicine (2019)

Letters5 November 2019Physician Impairment and RehabilitationNicholas D. Lawson, MD and J. Wesley Boyd, MD, PhDNicholas D. Lawson, MDGeorgetown University Law Center, Washington, DC (N.D.L.)Search for more papers by this author and J. Wesley Boyd, MD, PhDCambridge Health Alliance/Harvard Medical School, Needham, Massachusetts (J.W.B.)Search for more papers by this authorAuthor, Article, and Disclosure Informationhttps://doi.org/10.7326/L19-0553 SectionsAboutFull TextPDF ToolsAdd to favoritesDownload CitationsTrack CitationsPermissions ShareFacebookTwitterLinkedInRedditEmail TO THE EDITOR:The American College of Physicians' position paper (1) on state physician health programs (PHPs) claims to have the best interests of physicians at heart. However, this is difficult to believe when the authors do not inform physicians of their rights under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) to be free from unwarranted medical inquiries and referrals to PHPs for evaluation (2, 3). We suspect that state PHPs (as well as associated medical boards) have repeatedly failed to notify physicians of these rights in part because this legislation provides clear rules that would prevent many unwarranted referrals to ...References1. Candilis PJ, Kim DT, Sulmasy LS; ACP Ethics, Professionalism and Human Rights Committee. Physician impairment and rehabilitation: reintegration into medical practice while ensuring patient safety: a position paper from the American College of Physicians. Ann Intern Med. 2019;170:871-9. [PMID: 31158847]. doi:10.7326/M18-3605 LinkGoogle Scholar2. Lawson ND, Boyd JW. How broad are state physician health program descriptions of physician impairment? Subst Abuse Treat Prev Policy. 2018;13:30. [PMID: 30139369] doi:10.1186/s13011-018-0168-z CrossrefMedlineGoogle Scholar3. Lawson ND, Boyd JW. Do state physician health programs encourage referrals that violate the Americans with Disabilities Act? Int J Law Psychiatry. 2018;56:65-70. [PMID: 29701601] doi:10.1016/j.ijlp.2017.12.004 CrossrefMedlineGoogle Scholar4. Lawson ND, Boyd JW. Flaws in the methods and reporting of physician health program outcome studies [Letter]. Gen Hosp Psychiatry. 2018;54:65-6. [PMID: 29914651] doi:10.1016/j.genhosppsych.2018.06.002 CrossrefMedlineGoogle Scholar Author, Article, and Disclosure InformationAffiliations: Georgetown University Law Center, Washington, DC (N.D.L.)Cambridge Health Alliance/Harvard Medical School, Needham, Massachusetts (J.W.B.)Disclosures: Authors have disclosed no conflicts of interest. Forms can be viewed at www.acponline.org/authors/icmje/ConflictOfInterestForms.do?msNum=L19-0553. PreviousarticleNextarticle Advertisement FiguresReferencesRelatedDetailsSee AlsoPhysician Impairment and Rehabilitation: Reintegration Into Medical Practice While Ensuring Patient Safety: A Position Paper From the American College of Physicians Philip J. Candilis , Daniel T. Kim , Lois Snyder Sulmasy , and Physician Impairment and Rehabilitation Philip J. Candilis and Lois Snyder Sulmasy Metrics 5 November 2019Volume 171, Issue 9Page: 680-681KeywordsBehaviorConflicts of interestDisabilitiesDisclosureHeartImmunityLegislationSuicide ePublished: 5 November 2019 Issue Published: 5 November 2019 Copyright & PermissionsCopyright © 2019 by American College of Physicians. All Rights Reserved.PDF downloadLoading ...