Norwegian health authorities missed doctor warnings in unread emails
Norwegian health officials failed to read dozens of email warnings about doctors who lost medical licenses abroad. The oversight allowed potentially dangerous physicians to continue practicing. Authorities are now reviewing thousands of unprocessed alerts about healthcare workers.
Norwegian health officials failed to read email warnings about potentially dangerous doctors. The oversight allowed physicians who lost medical licenses abroad to continue practicing in Norway.
The Norwegian Board of Health Supervision received 18,000 alerts about healthcare workers since 2019. About 3,500 concerned doctors specifically. Officials now admit they never opened 64 email notifications about foreign doctors.
These alerts come through the Internal Market Information System (IMI). This European Union system notifies countries when healthcare professionals lose authorization elsewhere. The system aims to protect patients from unsafe practitioners.
Director Sjur Lehmann confirmed the problem. He said the board was unaware of many alerts about Norwegian-authorized doctors. The unread messages date back several years, with particular problems in spring 2023.
Why did this happen? The health board claims staffing issues and technical challenges prevented proper monitoring. They've now created a search robot to examine all IMI alerts.
The issue extends beyond doctors. The board is reviewing 14,000 additional alerts about dentists, nurses and other healthcare staff. They're finding similar patterns of unopened emails there too.
This failure means Norwegian authorities might have missed warnings about doctors considered dangerous to patients. The health board has already notified 11 doctors they could lose Norwegian working rights. Two were suspended immediately.
Earlier revelations showed at least 23 foreign doctors continued working in Norway after losing licenses abroad. Some were convicted of serious crimes in their home countries.
The health minister has promised immediate measures. Meanwhile, the incoming health committee leader called the situation a scandal and demanded parliamentary review.
Transparency remains problematic. The health board repeatedly refused media requests for access to the warnings. They claimed providing the information would create unreasonable workload.
Now the board promises better record-keeping and public access. Lehmann said they will reconsider how to handle information about license revocations. He acknowledged the importance of public scrutiny.
This case reveals serious flaws in cross-border healthcare monitoring. When systems designed for patient safety fail at basic administration, everyone faces unnecessary risks.