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The main job of state medical boards is to license doctors and to investigate complaints. But their findings are often difficult for the average consumer to access, meaning that many Americans are none the wiser that the doctor they may be visiting is on probation for egregious errors or ethics violations. In a report published Tuesday, Consumer Reports took a deep dive into the list of California doctors on probation — but still practicing — and what they found is unsettling. One pediatrician was disciplined 13 times for what the board cited as being “under the influence of drugs to such an extent as to impair her ability to practice medicine with safety to her patients and public.” An orthopedic surgeon was so inattentive to a man’s fractured thighbone that the patient ended up having to get his leg amputated. One OB-GYN surgically removed the wrong ovary rather than one that was cystic. The list goes on and on. (Cha, 3/29)

We’ve all heard stories of missed diagnoses that turned deadly or horrific surgeries gone awry, but a new Consumer Reports investigation suggests those mishaps may be more common and egregious than many people believe. (3/29)