ny medical license defense lawyers

As a physician, your worst nightmare would be to lose your medical license. Without your medical license, you won’t do as much as prescribing aspirin to a patient without it being a felony. Now imagine studying and working for so many years only to end your career prematurely.

The State Medical Board issues your medical licenses, giving them the mandate to revoke them as well. When they file a complaint against you, it means that you might get one of ten different disciplinary outcomes from the situation. It can be as harmless as paying a fine to as horrible as license revocation.

Many things can make the State Medical Board contact you for a complaint. The good thing is, they never revoke your license until they summon you to defend yourself before the board. This means you have a chance to save your career.

However, when they reach out, it means they are almost entirely convinced that you deserve a boot — this is why defending your story before the board won’t work when solo. Arm yourself with New York medical license defense lawyers who’ll support your case and help you maintain your job and reputation.

So, what are the various situation that’d lead to medical license revocation?

1. Driving Under Influence/ Driving While Intoxicated (DUI/DWI)

The state of New York terms a DUI as a criminal transgression. When convicted from a DUI/DWI, there are a bunch of consequences you can face that will not flourish your records as a professional medical provider. However, the penalties you’ll receive will depend on how many DWAIs you’ve received in your life; a third DUI is a game-breaker.

In New York, the criminal penalties of a DUI include:

• A fine of up to $500, $750, and $1500 for a first, second and third time DUI charge respectively
• Jail sentence for 15 days, 30 days and 180 days for the first, second and third DUI charge
• 90-day revocation of your driver’s license, or six months, or one year tops

When charged with a DWAI, we advise you to immediately report the incident to the medical board in New York. Failure to which, you risk medical license revocation. This is when your lawyer will come in handy and advise you on the steps to follow. Having one DUI charge can spare your medical license; however, a third DUI charge could potentially ruin your career.

2. Failure to Treat or Breach of Care

Another incident that puts your license at risk is the failure to treat an unwell patient. This is also referred to as a breach of care or duty. But what is termed as breaching of duty by medical practitioners?

• Wrongly reading or ignoring lab results of the patient
• Refusing to review clients medical records
• Sending a patient home without a diagnosis
• Failing to treat symptoms
• Prescribing contraindicated (not allowed) medication

The above can indicate medical malpractice by the physician. However, the patient has to prove that the doctor acted negligently for it to be a breach of duty. These accusations are usually very risky, for breach of care can take a patient’s life or make their conditions worse.

3. Misappropriation of Controlled Substances

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This is termed as drug diversion, whereby drugs stocked for patients are prescribed to non-patients for uses other than medical. Such purposes could include drug abuse. The diversion could also occur when one patient’s prescription is handed over to a different patient.

The latter could happen in case there was a mix up in prescriptions and files, accidentally disposing medication to the wrong patient, forged prescriptions, stealing of prescriptions, and such.

Legal Scenario: What Would You Do?

Scenario

You received a letter from the New York State Office of Professional Medical Conduct (OPMC) notifying you that a formal complaint has been filed against your medical license based on allegations of professional misconduct stemming from prescribing practices. The letter states that a hearing before a Committee for Professional Medical Conduct has been scheduled and that your license may be suspended or revoked.

What can I do to protect my medical license and what should I expect from the OPMC hearing process?

Attorney's Answer

Under New York Education Law §6530, there are numerous definitions of professional misconduct that can trigger disciplinary proceedings, and prescribing-related allegations are among the most common. You have the right to legal representation at the hearing before the Committee for Professional Medical Conduct, and your attorney can challenge the evidence, cross-examine witnesses, and present mitigating factors under the procedures outlined in New York Public Health Law §230. An experienced medical license defense lawyer can also negotiate with the OPMC for a pre-hearing settlement such as a consent order with conditions rather than outright revocation, and in many cases can seek a stay of any interim suspension under PHL §230-a to keep you practicing while the case proceeds.

This is general information only. Contact us for advice specific to your situation.

There’s always a chance that the physician isn’t guilty of drug diversion. Sometimes it’s just an honest mistake, while sometimes it could be intentional. When charged with misappropriation of medications, the medical board will take time to investigate from all angles to find out what happened and for how long it’s been happening.

Hiring the best New York Lawyer to save your Medical License
As earlier mentioned, the medical board will start by issuing a formal complaint against you. When you lawyer up, you’ll be ready for the interrogation process by the board. It’s very easy to ruin your whole case by saying one wrong thing. With the help of an experienced medical license defense lawyer, you’ll be able to fight for your career and keep it.

Has the medical board filed a complaint against you, and you’re worried sick about saving your medical license? Contact us today and hire the best New York medical license defense lawyer.