Report supports AJC investigation that Georgia is lax in disciplining doctors
Georgia ranks next to last nationally when it comes to imposing serious disciplinary actions against the state’s physicians, according to a report released Thursday by a national consumer organization.
Between 2023 and 2025, the Georgia Composite Medical Board issued an average of 13.3 serious disciplinary actions per year, according to the analysis by Public Citizen’s Health Research Group, a nonprofit organization based in Washington, D.C.
Alaska, Ohio and Alabama topped the rankings with the highest rates of disciplinary actions, according to the new study. Georgia would have to increase its serious disciplinary actions by 500% to reach top-ranked Alaska’s rate, the study said.
In the most recent rankings, only Indiana ranked lower than Georgia.
The study found that Georgia’s medical board has consistently come in 50th in the rankings of the 50 U.S. states and the District of Columbia in three-year averages going back to 2019.
“People ought to be concerned that the Georgia medical board doesn’t seem to be exercising the same amount of diligence as even an average state, let alone the best states, in terms of taking serious actions against physicians that have proven to be unsafe in their practice, or perhaps sexually abusing patients or other kinds of misbehavior,” said Robert E. Oshel, one of the authors of the Public Citizen report. “The fact that Georgia has been consistently 50th since 2019 is really concerning.”
The study defined serious actions as suspensions, revocations, voluntary surrenders while under investigation and other actions that had a clear negative impact on a doctor’s ability to practice.
The Public Citizen study corroborates and updates a similar analysis that was part of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution’s “Risky Medicine” investigation, which also found Georgia’s board was among the nation’s weakest.
The AJC investigation, which began publishing in June, found that lax oversight by Georgia’s underfunded medical board enabled practitioners across the state who promote treatments that run counter to accepted science and mainstream medicine.
A state audit released six years ago also found that Georgia physicians accused of mistreating or abusing patients rarely face serious consequences from the board.
The audit called for a slate of reforms, including a recommendation that Georgia get in line with national standards and allow the board to use all the money it collects in fees to pay for its operations. The state currently diverts a significant portion of the fees to other parts of the state budget.
The Public Citizen report objected to any state diverting physicians’ license fees for purposes outside of the medical board activities. “If the board doesn’t have adequate resources to do its job, that explains why they’re ranked 50th probably — or goes a long way toward explaining it,” Oshel said.
Georgia’s medical board has repeatedly told lawmakers that understaffing has created a backlog of cases and has asked for more staff to keep up.
“Protecting Georgia patients is the core of the board’s mission, and we take every complaint and action seriously,” said Jason Jones, the medical board’s executive director. “We’ve been candid that our current legal, compliance and investigative staffing have not kept pace with the volume of cases due to staffing, and that has contributed to a backlog.”
Jones said the board plans to ask the General Assembly for 25 new positions so that it can resolve cases more quickly.
“We welcome any conversation, including the one Public Citizen raises about boards retaining their fees, that helps us better fulfill our responsibility to the public,” Jones said
The Georgia Composite Medical Board includes 13 physicians and 2 public members appointed by the governor. The board is charged with licensing the state’s physicians, physician assistants and some other healthcare providers. Georgia currently licenses about 55,000 physicians.
The board’s staff reviews and investigates formal complaints against doctors. Board members make final decisions about discipline based on information prepared by the staff.
Risky Medicine
An AJC series examining how Georgia became a haven for unproven treatments
Part 1: Welcome to Georgia, where questionable therapies flourish with little oversight
Tennessee cracked down on a questionable therapy. Georgia gave its doctors a home.
Part 2: Desperate patients seek cures, leave with debt and regret
Atlanta clinic promoting unconventional medicine has controversial history
Part 3: Underfunded Georgia medical board does little to stop doctors who cross the line
Why you will have problems checking out your Georgia doctor
Who’s providing alternative medicine in Georgia, and what they can, can’t do
Liz Coyle, the executive director of Georgia Watch, a nonprofit consumer advocacy organization, said it’s critical for Georgians to have the information they need to make decisions about healthcare. She said that includes knowing if their healthcare providers are qualified in the services they offer and whether they’ve has issues with malpractice or criminal activity.
“It’s long past time for the state Legislature to adequately fund the medical board to keep Georgians safe when they go to the doctor,” Coyle said.