As a surgeon or physician, your practice license is the cornerstone of your professional medical career. It is undoubtedly a testimony to your years of training, education, hard work, and dedication to patient care. Unfortunately, the California Medical Board of California (CMB) can have it limited, suspended, or even revoked due to various allegations.

If the CMB has launched an investigation on any alleged complaint, you should take the matter with the seriousness it deserves. That means you should hire a reliable attorney to help you understand the nature and seriousness of the alleged offense or complaint and prepare legal defenses to help you secure a favorable outcome.

The CMB uses well-trained, experienced investigators who could convince or trick you to admit the allegations you are up against or disclose certain evidence, lessening your chances of winning the case. At San Jose License Attorney, we understand the tricks used by these investigators during their investigations and will do everything possible to help you secure a desirable outcome.

Understanding the Challenging Duties of Surgeons and Physicians

As a licensed surgeon or physician, you have undoubtedly invested much money and several years of thorough training to become who you are in the medical industry today. Without a practice license, there would be no waiting room, high-tech examination equipment, nursing staff, and no patients to treat. Your practice license is the gateway for your hard-earned career and all the success that comes with it.

Unfortunately, a complaint from a furious totient or colleague or an arrest for an alleged criminal charge is all it takes to lose your license within the blink of an eye. The CMB could question everything about practice and competency to offer medical services.

Generally speaking, the nature of your job as a surgeon or physician puts you at risk of these allegations. Often, the patients have a high level of trust and expectation about your services. When you fail to perform your services in a certain way or certain desired expectations are not achieved, a patient can file a complaint against you.

In this situation, hiring an attorney who understands how the licensing board handles disciplinary cases against licensed physicians and surgeons is key. You will rely on your attorney to help convince the board the allegations you are up against are untrue for a dismissal of the case or a lighter disciplinary action, including license suspension.

The CMB’s Mission

Unlike what many medical practitioners assume, the licensing board's main mission is to protect patients' health and safety. The CMB achieves this mission by:

  • Ensuring only competent and qualified surgeons and physicians receive practice license.
  • Taking consumer complaints or reports and investigating them to determine whether they have merits.

In other words, the CMB primarily aims to protect patient’s health and ensure the highest degree of safety and professionalism in the medical field. Without legal assistance, an exaggerated allegation or minor mistake could cause revocation or suspension of your surgeon or physician practice license because the board takes all allegations against licensed medical practitioners seriously.

Sometimes, a patient with unrealistic expectations could wrongly blame you based on the outcome of a procedure and not your actual performance or could perhaps confuse the duties of a different medical practitioner.

Conversely, no one is perfect, and even the most skilled doctors could make an honest error or battle substance addiction. Whether you want to have your application for a physician or surgeon license approved or you wish to secure the best possible outcome on an alleged complaint or crime, you cannot overlook the need for a skilled attorney during the entire process.

Potential Complaints That Could Attract the CMB’s Investigation

The CMB receives several complaints annually from various sources, including insurance providers, patients, family members of patients, and other medical practitioners. Some of the most prevalent complaints or allegations that could put your surgeon or physician practice license in jeopardy include the following:

  • Allowing unlicensed or incompetent assistants to work under your license.
  • Working without a practice license.
  • Improper patient interaction.
  • Drug abuse, addiction, or dependence.
  • Being under the influence at work.
  • Failure to supervise your staff.
  • Failure to carry out mandatory reporting, including elder abuse or child abuse.
  • Receiving kickbacks for health services or fraudulent billing.
  • Sexual or inappropriate touching of your patient.
  • Medical mistakes or errors that cause another person’s injury.
  • Dishonest or poor record-keeping practices.
  • Prescription errors, including overprescribing, prescribing without examining a patient, and prescribing medication to yourself.

Once the CMB launches an investigation against you or your practice, it will notify you about the same. When that happens, you should contact an attorney as soon as possible if you do not already have one. The earlier you retain the services of an attorney, the higher your odds of securing the best possible outcome.

For example, your attorney could help prevent automatic license suspension during the investigation process, which could take several weeks or months, allowing you to continue offering your services. When dealing with the CMB investigators, the rule of thumb is to remain silent whenever they ask questions about your practice.

Regardless of how friendly they seem, these investigators are not on your side, and any information you decide to give them could work against you, reducing your odds of winning the case.

Criminal Convictions That Could Put Your Physician or Surgeon License in Jeopardy

Any criminal offense, whether a felony, misdemeanor, or infraction, could jeopardize your career, especially if it relates to your professional responsibilities and qualifications as a physician or surgeon. Below are examples of these offenses:

  1. Driving Under the Influence (DUI)

You commit a DUI offense when you operate a vehicle under the influence of alcohol, illegal drugs, or prescription drugs. The penalties you will face for a DUI offense will depend on the facts of your case and DUI history. For example, a first-time DUI offense will carry up to six (6) months of jail time, a fine not exceeding $1,000, and suspension of your driver's license for not more than ten (10) months.

  1. Possession of a Controlled Substance

Possession of a controlled substance, like heroin, cocaine, marijuana, or prescription drugs, without proper or valid prescription is illegal. While it is a misdemeanor offense, a conviction for unlawful possession of a controlled substance can attract grave long-term consequences, including:

  • Incarceration.
  • Fine.
  • Deportation if you are a non-citizen.
  • Challenges securing reliable employment.

  1. Drug Trafficking

According to Health and Safety Code (HS) 11352, it is unlawful to import, furnish, sell, administer, or transport controlled drug substances or narcotics. Depending on the facts of your case, including the type of drug involved and the amount, a conviction for a drug trafficking offense can attract three, four, or five years of jail time because it is a felony offense.

In addition to these legal penalties, a conviction for these offenses will put your physician or medical practitioner license under scrutiny by the licensing board. In a worst-case scenario, the CMB will revoke your practice license upon a conviction for any of these offenses.

How Your Attorney Can Help You During the CMB’s Disciplinary Process

Aside from offering the much-needed legal counsel, you will rely on your attorney during the CMB’s disciplinary process for many reasons. For example, your attorney can help you:

File a Notice of Defense

Once you receive the board's investigation notice, you will have no more than fifteen days to file your Notice of Defense, or the automatic suspension of your license will go into effect. If you have an attorney, he/she will craft your Notice of Defense, attach all the relevant documents, and file it on time.

In your notice of defense, your attorney will vigorously challenge the alleged violation or negotiate for the most favorable terms if settlement is a viable option in your case. Generally speaking, a settlement is like a plea deal in a criminal case. To qualify for a stipulated settlement, you must agree and accept that the allegations you are up against are true.

Prepare for an Administrative Hearing

When securing a stipulated settlement is unfavorable in your case, you should prepare for a formal hearing with the Office of Administrative Hearings (OAH) before an administrative law judge (ALJ) to challenge the allegations you are up against.

Like a trial in a criminal case, during the administrative hearing, the prosecutor and your attorney will argue their side of the story and present evidence to support their arguments. To prove that disciplinary action is necessary, the prosecutor could raise the following aggravating arguments against you:

  • You have received disciplinary action in the past.
  • The patient suffered physical harm or injury.
  • You were grossly negligent.
  • You have a criminal record.
  • Your case involves sexual abuse against a patient.

Conversely, your attorney will raise the following mitigating arguments to convince the ALJ to drop your case or impose the minimum penalty for your offense:

  • You do not have a criminal record.
  • You do not have a past disciplinary case.
  • You have received rehabilitation for your drug use addiction.
  • The patient did not suffer an injury.

The ALJ will consider these facts to determine the appropriate cause of action the licensing board should take against you. If the available evidence is insufficient, the ALJ will dismiss your case, and everything about it will remain confidential, meaning it will not appear on the board’s website.

Prepare for Potential Outcomes of the CMB’s Disciplinary Process

You should expect some disciplinary actions when you lose the administrative hearing, meaning the ALJ finds you at fault for all the allegations or complaints launched against you. Some of the disciplinary actions the ALJ will recommend to the board include the following:

  • License revocation— For most grave violations or crimes, the board will revoke your license, meaning you have to cease offering your services indefinitely.
  • License suspension — While it is also a serious disciplinary action, the board will suspend your license for a certain duration. With the help of your attorney, you can convince the board to reduce your suspension duration to resume offering your services as soon as possible.
  • License probation — Sometimes, your attorney could save your license from harsh disciplinary actions like suspension or revocation, but the board will put the license on probation for a specific duration. During this duration, you must comply with certain probationary conditions.
  • A citation and a fine — The board could recommend a citation and a fine for non-serious offenses. The amount of fine you will pay will depend on the facts of your unique case.
  • Enroll for an educational course — If your violation involves incompetence, the board will require you to take an educational course or enroll in the recommended training.
  • Public reprimand — This is an apology for your violation or misconduct, but the board will post it on their website, meaning current or potential clients can view it.

Appeal or Seek the Board’s Reconsideration

After the administrative hearing, the board will review the ALJ’s discipline decision or recommendations to determine whether it suits the seriousness of your unique violation. If you believe the ALJ's decision is unfair, your attorney can help you file an appeal to secure a favorable or lighter disciplinary action.

Request Reinstatement of Your License

As mentioned in the previous paragraph, for serious offenses or if your violation led to another person's death or injury, the board will revoke or suspend your physician or surgeon license. If that happens, your attorney can help you seek a reinstatement to continue offering your services after a certain period.

When seeking reinstatement of your license, your attorney can help you present various evidence of excellent conduct. For example, he/she can argue that you are reformed or rehabilitated. The board will not reinstate your practice license unless your attorney can prove you are reformed and rehabilitated.

Find a Skilled License Defense Attorney Near Me

Whether you are having trouble securing a surgeon or physician practice license or the CMB has launched an investigation against you for an alleged violation, hiring a seasoned attorney is wise.

Our seasoned attorneys at San Jose License Attorney can intervene and challenge the allegations you are up against in every part of the disciplinary process to secure a favorable outcome. Call us at 408-850-3740 to schedule your initial consultation with us today.