Each state has its own set of statutes and regulations on licensing doctors, accommodating patients who wish to file complaints, and releasing information about physicians who have been subject to discipline and legal action. On this page, we’re sharing the key findings regarding Alabama, which we will continue to update as the series progresses.
Key fact: The Medical Licensure Commission makes disciplinary decisions. Also, medical authorities halt investigations, and no findings are entered, when a doctor voluntarily surrenders his license.
“People get revoked and rehabilitate themselves and get back into the practice of medicine. It costs a fortune to train a physician and you can’t just throw it away."
— Larry Dixon, executive director, Board of Medical Examiners
The emergency room doctor was accused of molesting female patients when he thought they were unconscious.
One patient claimed in a lawsuit that she immediately told her parents about an incident in November 2006. The parents notified Southeast Alabama Medical Center Foundation, but five months later, after no action had been taken, they again notified the hospital as well as the state medical board.
In September 2007, the board alleged, Johns molested a second emergency room patient in the mistaken belief that she was incapacitated due to the effects of medicine.
The board suspended Johns' license in May 2008 and revoked it in September 2008. He was criminally convicted in 2009 and sentenced to 14 years in prison.
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