Sham Peer Review: a Worldwide Phenomenon.

A global epidemic of attacks on ethical physicians, which endangers patients, was a focus of the 13th UNESCO World Conference on Bioethics, Medical Ethics & Health Law, Nov 27-29, at the Ramada Hotel in Jerusalem.

Lawrence Huntoon, M.D., Ph.D., presented a keynote address on “Sham Peer Review: a Worldwide Phenomenon.” Dr. Huntoon, a neurologist practicing in New York, is editor-in-chief of the Journal of American Physicians and Surgeons.

Sham peer review targets physicians in a potentially career-ending administrative process, for reasons other than legitimate patient-care concerns, such as anti-competitive motives. Physicians have virtually no due-process rights in such actions.

“When a highly-skilled, compassionate physician is eliminated from a hospital as the result of sham peer review, patient safety and quality care suffer,” Dr. Huntoon states.