How to Check Complaints for a Physician

The American Medical Association is the premier organizational structure in the United States for doctors and the health-care industry. Surprisingly, it keeps no public record of complaints against doctors. To find any complaints against doctors you can conduct a minimal search from the medical board of the state where the physician practices, or pay a small fee to the Federation of State Medical Boards to receive a report of past disciplinary actions against a physician.

Instructions

• 1

  Go to the state's medical board. For a complete listing of state medical boards, see the Resources section.

• 2

  Locate the "Check Your Doctor or Complaints" option.

• 3

  Read over what your state's medical board considers public information. In California for example, a complaint against a doctor is not considered public information if that complaint has been dismissed or is still being investigated by the medical board. The Alabama Board of Medical Examiners will not provide any information about past complaints about a physician without their written consent.

• 4

  Select "Continue Search" to proceed.

• 5

  Enter in the doctor's full first and last name in order to look up any complaints. If you do not feel satisfied with the free search, you can pay $10 for a more extensive search of past complaints against a physician with the Federation of State Medical Boards DocInfo service (see References).