The National Practitioner Data Bank is a government program within the U.S. Department of Health that was created to improve health care quality and protect the public. It collects information on health care practitioners, including malpractice awards or settlements, and discloses it to authorized users like hospitals as sort of a background check, so potential employers can see whether a potential new hire has had any previous sanctions or other misconduct.

Of course, doctors are loath to have their names reported to the Data Bank, for fear that if they did want to change jobs or get privileges from another hospital, it may be harder to do so. One way doctors have found to avoid being reported even when their conduct results in a payout is through the so-called “corporate shield loophole.” This can be used by the employer of the doctor – such as a hospital or other medical facility – to pay out a claim as the sole defendant of a lawsuit, even when the doctor’s conduct is the basis for the claim.

The Public Citizen lawsuit alleges that the NPDB rules are not consistent with the federal statute that established it, allowing for doctors to avoid being reported. The harm, alleges the complaint, is that by allowing this loophole, it deprives the NPDB of information important to potential hospital employers, as above, and also state licensing boards, of information that would allow them to better protect patient health and safety.

You can read an article regarding the lawsuit here:

[HHS Must Close Loophole Allowing Health Care Providers to Evade Malpractice Payment Reporting](http://www.commondreams.org/newswire/2016/07/26/hhs-must-close-loophole-allowing-health-care-providers-evade-malpractice-payment)