The House unanimously approved Monday night a bill that would impose more regulations on licensing board investigations of doctors.

Under the proposal, at least two N.C. Medical Board members must agree to start an investigation, and the accused would have the opportunity to meet with the board before public charges are issued, Lynn Bonner reports.

The board licenses and disciplines the state's 32,000 doctors, physician assistants, and nurse practitioners.

The bill went through considerable changes since the medical board raised strong objections to earlier versions.

"This is a different and much better bill than when it left the Senate," said Rep. Bob England, a Rutherford County Democrat.

He described the proposal as a concensus bill that will "clarify the due process of the licensee without interferring with patient protection."

The bill now goes back to the Senate.

A provision that "has given everybody heartburn" was removed Wednesday from a Senate bill that seeks to change the way the N.C. Medical Board investigates doctors for bad care or ethical breaches.

Sen. Martin Nesbitt Jr., a Democrat from Asheville who sponsored the bill, took out a particularly contentious requirement that the board line up two expert witnesses to agree on a practitioner's misbehavior, Sarah Avery reports.

Currently, the board gets one outside expert, and board officials vehemently opposed the additional requirement.

The bill moves forward in the Senate, but is likely to face additional changes and obstacles. In its current incarnation, the bill would require more communication between the board and doctors it investigates, board approval before investigations are launched, and a six-month timeline to begin and end probes.

Backed by a group of doctors who practice alternative medicine, the bill recently gained the support of the N.C. Medical Society. The doctor's lobby has increasingly been at odds with the medical board over doctor discipline issues.