Drug tests for physicians?
SACRAMENTO - A former trial lawyer and state senator, Joe Dunn battled the greedy and unscrupulous on behalf of the little guy.
Today, however, as executive vice president and CEO of the California Medical Association, Dunn finds himself leading an organization that's defending a secretive and controversial medical program that some say endangers patients.
Take Dr. Brian West, a plastic surgeon in Long Beach and Beverly Hills. West has been accused of horribly disfiguring several patients when he worked in Northern California a few years ago. He also twice was convicted of drunk driving.
The Medical Board of California has never been able to link West's substance abuse to the allegedly botched surgeries, but the graduate of UC Irvine's medical school was able to keep his alcoholism secret thanks to the board's Diversion Program.
"It's a huge problem. There's an error rate of 25 percent because they're not performing drug tests randomly," said Assemblyman Jose Solorio, a Santa Ana Democrat who chairs the Assembly Public Safety Committee and represents many of the same neighborhoods Dunn once did. "It's definitely a public safety issue."
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