Among the things that bring physicians to the Board's attention and result in disciplinary actions, the following ten are particularly common. They are not presented here in order of importance--the Board considers all violations of the Medical Practice Act to be important.

So be aware, the Board's attention will focus on you if it has reason to believe you may have. . .

1. abused alcohol or controlled substances, or used illegal drugs;


2. prescribed inappropriately;


3. violated the boundary between patient and physician by sexual exploitation or other means;


4. practiced incompetently or provided care below acceptable standards;


5. behaved disruptively or unprofessionally;


6. exploited patients for financial gain;


7. abused patient rights (which are well described in the section of the American Medical Association's Code of Medical Ethics reprinted on the back of this sheet);


8. improperly supervised physician assistants or nurse practitioners;


9. practiced or behaved in a manner that brought about a restriction or revocation of your privileges by a hospital, HMO, or other medical institution or organization;


10. or failed to respond in a timely manner to a request from the North Carolina Medical Board for information or for an appearance before the Board.

A physician shall. . .strive to expose those physicians deficient in character or competence, or who engage in fraud or deception.*
*From the American Medical Association's Principles of Medical Ethics