A study from the Harvard Medical School finds that while most physicians support the professional commitment to report other physicians who they feel are incompetent or impaired, such as from alcohol or drug use, when faced with this situation, many did not follow through on making a report.

Data suggest that while 17 percent of doctors knew of drunk, addicted or otherwise incompetent colleagues, one-third said they did nothing to report fellow physicians’ dangerous behavior.

The most frequently cited reasons for not reporting an impaired or incompetent colleague included the belief that someone else was taking care of the problem; the belief that nothing would happen as a result of the report; fear of retribution; the belief that reporting was not their responsibility; or that the physician would be excessively punished.

Matthew Wynia, director of the AMA Institute for Ethics, doesn’t believe that matters. “I don’t think there’s any excuse for less than 100 percent of physicians holding true to these ideals,” he said.

Most states have retraining, intervention, and treatment programs for doctors, but the survey indicates doctors don’t have faith in the system in place.

“This finding is troubling, because peer monitoring and reporting are the prime mechanisms for identifying physicians whose knowledge, skills, or attitudes are compromised,” the study notes.

“All health care professionals, from administrative leaders to those providing clinical care, must understand the urgency of preventing impaired or incompetent colleagues from injuring patients and the need to help these physicians confront and resolve their problems,” the report concludes. “The system of reporting must facilitate, rather than impede, this process.”