Sham peer review is a way for hospitals to retaliate against physicians they find “disruptive.”  “Disruptive” can mean anything, of course, including refusing to become an employee of a hospital.  Many physician careers have been destroyed and even for those doctors who survive this process, things are never quite the same.  Dr. Lawrence Huntoon, editor of the Journal of American Physicians and Surgeons and an expert on sham peer review, has written this piece for the summer edition of The Journal.  This is the most shocking account of hospital retaliation I have ever seen.  As the corporate hospitals begin to lose their grip, I expect to hear of more attacks on physicians who won’t bow before the great cartel. 

G. Keith Smith, M.D.