As it has for four of the past seven years, the Texas Medical Board licensed a record number of new physicians for the fiscal year that ended last month, surging past the 4,000 mark for the first time in history.
The board licensed a record 4,295 new Texas doctors last year, up 301 (7.5 percent) from the previous year’s record of 3,994. The number of license applications received (5,377) also broke the record of 5,150 set in 2014.
“Twelve years since the passage of our historic 2003 medical liability reforms, we continue to attract new physicians to Texas in record numbers,” said Austin internist Howard Marcus, M.D, chairman of Texas Alliance For Patient Access. “I don’t at all find that to be a coincidence.”
Texas has licensed an average of 3,432 new physicians each year since the passage of lawsuit reforms 12 years ago.
“As we promised during the campaign for liability reform, passage of House Bill 4 and Proposition 12 have reversed the epidemic of lawsuit abuse and, in turn, provided sick and injured Texans with better access to lifesaving care,” Dr. Marcus said.