In the news: Bergstrom case forces CA to take a closer look at its peer review systems

Carl Bergstrom, MD, faces serious jail time for forcibly sodomizing a female acquaintance in his Carmel, CA home in April. He is also accused of trading prescription drugs and cash for cocaine, which he then traded for sex. These transactions allegedly took place while Berstrom worked from his practice’s office. 

More shocking than his crime, perhaps, is that Community Hospital, where Bergstrom worked, did not launch an investigation into Bergstrom’s behavior. The issue has sparked California legislators to seriously evaluate its physician peer review system, according to an August 31 Monterey Herald article. 

According to the Monterey Herald, even if a hospital initiates an action against a doctor in California, it can take years before the state medical board is informed. Legislators are considering making peer review laws uniform throughout the state rather than leaving each hospital to determine its own peer review system. It is also seeking to force hospitals to report suspected misconduct in a timely manner.