Doctors in Michigan would no longer have to disclose if they'd been diagnosed with or treated for a mental health condition when applying for a license to practice medicine.
That's under state House bill 4277, introduced last week by Republican State Representative Matthew Bierline.
“The state’s current licensure application process includes intrusive questions that inquire about an individual’s mental health history,” said Bierlein, of Vassar. “This can deter healthcare professionals from seeking help they may need within the stressful nature of their work. It also unfairly perpetuates a stigma regarding whether people who seek or have sought mental health support are cut out for these jobs."
Dr. Mark Komorowski is an independent plastic surgeon who practices in the Saginaw/Bay City/Midland area, and current president of the Michigan State Medical Society.
Komorowski said doctors aren’t asked whether they’ve been treated for any other health condition, such as cancer, and that being treated for a condition like anxiety or depression doesn’t mean a doctor can’t safely care for patients.
“We try to reduce the stigma for patients,” he said. “We tell them, listen, it's okay to have a diagnosis of depression, there's a way to treat this, and yet the people that are making that ask of patients are the ones who are held to a different standard.”
Licensure application forms would instead ask doctors to disclose if they have any reason to believe they pose a risk to patient safety, or if they cannot perform the essential functions of their job.
