The Board of Registered Nursing accused our client of gross negligence and incompetence in the practice of nursing following alleged failure to obtain or document a specific reading with respect to a patient under her care. To resolve the case, our client was willing to enter into a public letter of reproval, but the Board refused and insisted upon a period of probation. We advised our client not to accept the Board’s offer and instead took the case to hearing. During a three-day proceeding before the Office of Administrative Hearings, the Board presented an expert witness, an investigator, and an…

On September 30, 2018, the Governor signed Assembly Bill 2138, which primarily helps many license applicants with criminal records get professional licenses.  AB 2138 took effect on July 1, 2020. After the change in the law, a plea of guilty or a verdict of guilty can only be used against a licensee or license applicant as a conviction once a judgment has been entered.  (Business and Professions Code section 7.5)   This is an important change for defendants who get deferred entry of judgment, for example.  In criminal courts, individuals granted deferred entry of judgment enter a plea…

California Business and Professions Code section 2310 empowers the Medical Board of California to immediately and without prior notice suspend certain California physician licenses.  Business and Professions Code section 2310 provides that if a California physician’s license in another state is suspended or revoked outright and that action is reported to the National Practitioners Data Bank, and the physician’s primary place of practice is outside of California, the physician’s California license can be immediately suspended.  The suspension stays in place unless overturned by a hearing at the Office of Administrative Hearings, if the out-of-state order of suspension or revocation…

Mandated Reporting of Sexual Misconduct Allegations against California Licensed Physicians by Healthcare Facilities The Medical Board of California and other healthcare licensing boards hold licensed physicians and other healthcare licensees to an extremely high standard regarding sexual misconduct allegations. Every day physicians, and other healthcare licensees, who communicate with hundreds of patients each week, face the possibility of patients reporting unprofessional conduct, which can trigger a license investigation and license discipline. Existing laws require the Medical Board of California, and other licensing boards, to monitor, regulate, and discipline licensed health care practitioners. When licensed physicians face sexual or inappropriate misconduct…

More Practice-Level Guidelines for Physician Assistants The Physician Assistant Practice Act sets forth supervision requirements for licensed physician assistants (PAs) in California. These requirements set statewide standards for supervision, agreements, and protocols mostly under the delegation of physicians and surgeons. Signed by Governor Newsom on October 9, 2019, and effective January 1, 2020, Senate Bill 697 relaxes chart review and physician signature requirements allowing decisions to be made at the practice level. All references to “delegation of services agreements” have been changed to “practice agreements”, the most notable change to recognize physician assistants as independent and capable health care workers.…

The Department of Business Oversight (DBO) changed its name to the Department of Financial Protection and Innovation (DFPI) effective September 29, 2020.  Along with this name change, effective January 1, 2021, the new California Consumer Financial Protection Law (CCFPL) grants the Department of Financial Protection and Innovation new powers to investigate previously unregulated businesses, such as debt collectors, rent to own contracts and other point of sale financing, consumer credit reporting agencies and credit repair agencies. The Department of Financial Protection and Innovation’s primary role will continue to be the licensing and license regulation of California finance lender licensees (CFLs),…

Tweaks to C.U.R.E.S. Database Reporting and Access The Controlled Substance Utilization Review and Evaluation System (C.U.R.E.S.) is a prescription monitoring program maintained by California’s licensed physicians, licensed physician assistants, licensed pharmacies, licensed pharmacists, and any other prescribing California health care professionals. On October 2, 2018, the California Department of Justice (DOJ) certified the mandatory statewide use of the C.U.R.E.S. database, consisting of all DEA Schedule II, III, and IV controlled substance prescriptions dispensed in California.  California lawmakers amended Assembly Bill 528 to expand on California pharmacy prescription reporting requirements and to increase access to the C.U.R.E.S. database for licensed…