By The Star Staff
The Puerto Rico Comptroller’s Office issued a qualified opinion Tuesday on operations related to the investigation of complaints or grievances for unprofessional conduct and medical malpractice handled by the Department of Health’s Medical Licensing and Discipline Board.
A qualified opinion is issued when individual or aggregate violations are significant, but not widespread.
The report reveals that, as of Sept. 30, 2024, the board had not issued a timely resolution on complaints or grievances in 415 cases. Of those cases, 101 were related to professional conduct, the oldest of them unresolved since 2006, and 314 were pending medical malpractice cases since 2014.
The regulations stipulate that every case subject to an adjudicative procedure must be resolved within six months of its filing. The board must also initiate an investigation as soon as it receives any information regarding professional malpractice, whether already adjudicated or in the process of being resolved.
The audit of a finding indicates that a similar situation had already been discussed in Audit Report DA-22-08 of Jan. 14, 2022.
The report recommends that the board’s executive director continue with the necessary steps to have the complaints investigated as provided for in Laws 38-2017 and 139-2008 , as well as the General Regulations of 2016.
The board had a budget of $2.4 million in 2022, $3.1 million in 2023, and $4.4 million in 2024. Additionally, had expenses of $4.6 million against its $9.9 million revenue for the same three-year period.
This specific scope compliance audit (available at www.ocpr.gov.pr) covers the period from March 1, 2022 to Sept. 30, 2024.
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