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The agency that licenses 152,000 California physicians is facing a crisis of public confidence, with the voices of several lawmakers joining those of angry patients who say it shields bad doctors far too often.
The long-simmering tension has increased to such an extent that all but a few of the Medical Board of California s 15 members including many of its physician members say most of the board s seats, now filled by doctors, should instead be filled by members of the public.
If the board composition is changed to a public member majority, California will become the first such state medical board in the nation to do so, experts said.