1. Medico-legal cases associated with older physicians' cognitive ability to practice medicine.
- Author
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Casey G, Lemay K, Ji J, Yang Q, MacIntyre A, Heroux D, and Garber G
- Subjects
- Humans, Canada, Cognition, Physicians
- Abstract
Background: Dementia increases as individuals age. Aging physicians represent a growing population. Studies have demonstrated there are physicians with cognitive impairments practicing medicine. The medico-legal consequences of physicians with cognitive impairments have not been investigated., Methods: The Canadian Medical Protective Association (CMPA) is a national medical association with 108,000 members who advise and assist doctors with medico-legal matters. They maintain a national repository of legal actions and complaints to regulatory bodies and hospitals. We looked at civil-legal and regulatory college cases closed over a 10-year period associated with physicians aged ≥55. A word search of the cases was conducted using "Dementia, Alzheimer, Cognitive impairment, Cognitive decline, Memory loss, Memory issues, Fit for/to practice.", Results: The CMPA closed 67,566 cases between 2012 and 2021 and 16% (10,599) involved members ≥55. A mixed methodology approach identified 65 cases associated with physician's cognitive ability to practice medicine. Of these 65 cases, the average age of physician was 71.3 (56.1-88.5). The proportion of cases where concern was associated with a physician's cognitive ability to practice medicine increased, from 0.2% of cases in 55-60-year-olds, to 7.7% in physicians over 80., Interpretation: As physicians age, concerns about cognitive impairment are more likely to contribute to medico-legal matters., (© 2023 The Authors. Journal of Healthcare Risk Management published by Wiley Periodicals LLC on behalf of American Society for Healthcare Risk Management.)
- Published
- 2024
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