HOUSTON -- Some doctors have pulled down a Web site they set up listing names of people who have filed malpractice lawsuits.

SURVEY Would you consider a list set up by doctors of patients who have filed malpractice lawsuits a blacklist? Yes, but doctors need a list like that. No, it's a helpful list for doctors. Yes, and it was right to take it down. Results  |  Disclaimer

The site, called doctorsknow.us, was billed as the first that profiled the patients, along with the lawyers and expert witnesses called in court cases.

It was set up last year by a radiologist from Texas, but the consumer group Texas Watch says it turned into an immoral blacklist of innocent patients. The president-elect of the Texas Medical Association also had questions about it. He said it interfered with the patient-doctor relationship.

On the Web site, the doctors that ran the site said: "The controversy this site has ignited was unanticipated and has polarized opinions regarding the medical malpractice crisis."

The doctors said they think the site did serve the purpose of sparking discussion about malpractice litigation.