Over the weekend the
Los Angeles Times, working with ProPublica, reported that in California alone,
dozens of nurses with felony convictions still have valid nursing licenses. Some of those convictions include sex crimes.
The investigation found:
... more than 115 recent cases in which the state didn't seek to pull or restrict licenses until nurses racked up three or more criminal convictions. Twenty-four nurses had at least five.
In some cases, nurses with felony records continue to have spotless licenses -- even while serving time behind bars.
The paper cites these examples:
* An Orange County man continued to renew his nursing license for years even after he was imprisoned for attempted murder.
* A Redding nurse was convicted 14 separate times from 1996 -- a year after she was licensed -- through 2006 on charges including several instances of driving under the influence, driving with a suspended license and drug possession.
* A San Pedro man amassed convictions for receiving stolen property, as well as possession of cocaine and burglary tools, before the board placed him on probation. He subsequently was arrested two more times, for possessing cocaine and a pipe to smoke it.
In response, the board extended his probation.
* A Calimesa nurse has a clean record despite a felony conviction for lewd and lascivious acts with a child.
Over the weekend, I was teaching a workshop at the Illinois Press Association convention (in Springfield, Ill.) on how to use the Internet to investigate stories.
I showed journalists this site from the state of Illinois -- monthly reports filed by the Division of Professional Regulation. Every state has something similar, but I was stunned at how many nurses, doctors, dentists and pharmacists were disciplined by the state in just one month.
Another part of the mortgage crisisOh, and one other thing about the list. Note how many people involved in the mortgage and realty business lost their licenses. There are also a number of people involved in the securities business who lost their licenses.
Look locally. And, of course, if you find your state is
not taking similar action, that may tell you something, too.
This was an interesting story. But my main question is:...
