60 Percent Of Louisiana Prison Doctors Have Been Disciplined

NEW ORLEANS (AP) — Nearly two-thirds of the doctors working in Louisiana's prisons have been disciplined by the state medical board for issues ranging from pedophilia to substance abuse.

The Times Picayune reports about 60 percent of the state's prison doctors have disciplinary records, compared with 2 percent of the state's 16,000 or so licensed medical doctors, according to data from the Louisiana State Board of Medical Examiners.

The newspaper reported the Louisiana State Penitentiary at Angola is a common destination for troubled physicians. One former New Orleans physician accused of "unprofessional conduct" with female patients now practices at the all-male facility.

About 19,000 inmates are housed in Louisiana state prisons. Another 21,000 inmates are housed in local jails, where doctors typically work one or two days a week while maintaining private practices.