The California Medical Association (CMA) and the Medical Board of California are co-sponsoring bill (AB 408) to establish a Physician Health and Wellness Program. 

AB 408—authored by Assemblymember Marc Berman (D-Menlo Park)—would allow the medical board to establish a Physician Health and Wellness Program that utilizes what experts have found to be the most effective approach to helping physicians with substance use disorders and other conditions receive treatment so they can continue practicing safely.  

“Physicians, like all people, experience mental health struggles, but they often try to navigate these situations on their own due to fear that seeking help will harm them professionally and prevent them from doing what they love as doctors,” said CMA President Shannon Udovic-Constant, M.D. “AB 408 would establish an effective, confidential program – similar to what other states have and in line with national best practices – that supports physicians’ health and wellness and protects patients by allowing physicians to be at their best.”

The board’s previous diversion program was found in an audit to be ineffective and was subsequently eliminated, resulting in the board having no formal program for impaired physicians for a number of years. A prior bill from 2016 authorized the medical board to reestablish a physician health and wellness program, however the language was later determined to be inconsistent with evidence-based best practices and the board concluded that physicians would be discouraged to participate.

This bill would revise that statutory authority to allow the board to establish an effective program.