KANSAS CITY — The Kansas City Star is in a fight with Health and Human Services secretary Kathleen Sebelius over access to a federal database that contains statistical information on the malpractice and disciplinary histories of thousands of doctors nationwide. The Star and six other leading journalism organizations are calling on Sebelius to immediately restore public access to the database. The National Practitioner Data Bank took its public-use file off its Web-site Sept, 1 after Ssar wrote stories about a Johnson County neurosurgeon and 20 other doctors in Kansas and Missouri with a large number of malpractice payments and who hadn’t been disciplined. The Health Resources and Services Administration threatened to fine the Star for naming names. However, the newspaper refused to back down. The Star and journalism groups say the HRSA has no authority to close the public files. They also say a federal agency shouldn’t be threatening a news outlet for being a watchdog.
Thursday, Sept. 29, 5 p.m.
