European leaders are under renewed pressure to fix systemic failures in the continent’s cross-border medical alert system after a sweeping investigation revealed that dozens of doctors banned for serious misconduct in one country have quietly resumed their careers in another. The findings – published in the Bad Practice series by the Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (OCCRP), Norway’s VG, and the Times of London – have triggered alarm among medical associations, patient advocates, and regulators who warn that the loopholes pose a direct threat to public safety.

The Standing Committee of European Doctors (CPME), representing national medical associations across Europe, issued a strong and unusually direct statement urging the European Union to enforce stricter oversight. Their message was clear: the EU’s mechanisms for alerting member states about dangerous doctors are failing, and patients are paying the price.

According to OCCRP’s investigation, more than 100 doctors who had lost their licenses for serious professional violations – including malpractice, sexual assault, fraud, and gross negligence – were still legally allowed to practice medicine elsewhere within Europe. Under EU rules, member states are required to submit alerts on the Internal Market Information (IMI) system whenever a doctor faces disciplinary action, suspension, or a revoked license. These alerts allow national regulators to verify whether a doctor applying for work elsewhere has a history that would make them unfit to practice.

In reality, the system is riddled with holes.

The OCCRP reporters

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