Administrative Law | Thompson Burton PLLC

Ten Ways to Avoid Losing your Medical License: Part II

By Alex Scarbrough Fisher, October 14 2013

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This is the second article in a three part series designed to inform physicians and other health care providers about proactive steps that can be taken to avoid licensure discipline by the Department of Health. 4. Be cautious about your use of intoxicating liquors, narcotics, controlled substances, or other drugs or stimulants that would effect your ability to practice medicine. Out of those physicians who receive severe discipline from a medical board, i.e., revocation or voluntary surrender of their license to practice medicine, the top three offenses are (1) sexual abuse, (2) murder, and (3) alcohol abuse. State medical boards take substance and alcohol abuse very seriously, so if a physician realizes he or she has a substance or alcohol addiction, he should proactively seek help, rather than waiting until his license is disciplined, or even worse—a patient is injured. Organizations such as the Tennessee Medical Foundation exist for the […]

10 Ways to Avoid Losing your Medical License: Part I

By Alex Scarbrough Fisher, October 3 2013

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This is the first article in a three part series designed to inform physicians and other health care providers about proactive steps that can be taken to avoid licensure discipline by the Department of Health. 1. Renew your License and timely respond to all correspondence from the Board of Medical Examiners. If the Board of Medical Examiners sends a letter to a physician stating she needs to renew her license or pay licensure fees and the physician does not respond to the correspondence, the Board of Medical Examiners (BME) can formally reprimand the physician for failure to respond. A reprimand by the BME becomes part of the public record, is searchable on the National Practitioner Data Bank, and is difficult to expunge. Once a reprimand or other action is on a physician’s record, this can make the licensure process in another state more difficult, and lead to harsher punishment of […]

Rules and Rights: the Power of State Medical Boards to Regulate

By Alex Scarbrough Fisher, September 27 2013

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Last week’s article discussed the disciplinary process before a Tennessee health related board. This article continues with the same theme, expounding upon the power with which health related boards regulate licensees, and where this power comes from. Tennessee Health Related Boards generally derive their powers from several difference sources, including Tennessee law and a set of rules specific to each board, which set forth the board’s regulatory powers. Tennessee Code Title 63 governs the Professions of the Healing Arts, including chiropractors, dentists, physicians, nurses, optometrists, pharmacists, and veterinarians, among others. Additionally, each health related board has their own set of rules, for example, the Board of Medical Examiners, Board of Nursing, and the Board of Dentistry all have their own rules that govern their health care practice. Tennessee Code gives the health related boards the power to deny an application for a license, suspend or limit a current license, reprimand a […]

What should you do if you received a 4-5-320(c) notification letter from the Tennessee Department of Health?

By Alex Scarbrough Fisher, September 18 2013

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Although the following is a description of the basic discipline process for a licensed physician before the Board of Medical Examiners, the process is substantially identical for licensees before other health related boards in Tennessee, such as the Board of Nursing and the Board of Pharmacy. A 4-5-320(c) letter is statutorily required notice by the Tennessee Department of Health to a physician charged with a violation of the Tennessee Medical Practice Act. Prior to this letter being sent, a complaint was filed against the physician. When a complaint is filed, a Board consultant and a Department of Health attorney review the complaint to determine if a violation of the Medical Practice Act has occurred. If so, an investigation is initiated, and an investigator from the Department of Health Office of Investigations interviews the physicians’ patients, nurses, and anyone else she deems relevant to the complaint, as well as reviewing the physician’s medical records. The investigator reports her […]

Ethics and Law: Understanding the Role of Government and Private Attorneys in Administrative Hearings

By Alex Scarbrough Fisher, September 12 2013

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Most attorneys have limited knowledge about the administrative process, despite how pervasively agencies at the state and local level regulate one’s everyday life. As a result, attorneys who represent a client before administrative agencies are often unprepared for what an administrative hearing may entail, resulting in poor representation for his or her client. Administrative law is the procedure created by administrative agencies, which are governmental bodies of the city, county, state, or federal government. These procedures include licenses for professionals, such as a license to practice medicine, as well as the regulation of permits, applications, and other rules and regulations. Generally, the regulations of multiple administrative agencies, such as state and county, overlap with one another. In a hearing before the Tennessee Board of Medical Examiners, for example, an attorney needs to be knowledgeable about not only the rules of evidence, but also the Uniform Administrative Procedures Act, the Rules […]