Last Updated on: 1st August 2023, 01:27 am

Health care professionals, especially doctors, have invested an enormous number of years and staggering resources to gain the knowledge and skills needed to help their patients take care of their medical needs. This is why it is so critically important to maintain and defend their medical license against malicious or unsubstantiated attacks. This is the key to defend a medical professional’s right to make a living and serve the public as a licensed professional in Long Island.

What Medical License Defense Attorneys Do to Help Out Medical Professionals

Medical license defense attorneys offer help to doctors and other medical professionals who find themselves being investigated by their State’s Medical Board. These services are especially necessary for doctors whose licenses have been attacked via filed complaints, investigations, administrative fines and penalties, suspensions, and especially revocations. Any medical professionals that find themselves being investigated or who have received notice or a contact from their Medical Board that they are being investigated should obtain expertise and aid as soon as possible from a legal professional with years of experience. This type of legal counsel includes help with complaints, applications, investigations, programs for substance abuse diversion, and self-reporting.

The Ways A Medical License Defense Lawyer Can Specifically Help Doctors

Doctors who are coming to grips with a full-blown investigation from their Medical Board face a variety of difficult and complicated legal challenges. Legal assistance from experienced medical license defense attorneys can help them to deal with these procedures capably. This includes assistance with:

• Drafting an appropriate response to the Medical Board
• Preparing for interviews conducted as part of the investigation
• Becoming ready for the appearance before the Medical Board

Drafting the Medical Board’s Response

Doctors who are being investigated by their medical board first receive requests for a full written out response to the complaint allegations. It is crucial that the written out and submitted response be drafted with care and expertise, as these statements within the medical response may not ever be withdrawn once they are turned in to the medical board. With a medical professional’s help, a good medical license defense attorney will draft the under investigation doctor’s response to make sure it does not contain any accidentally incriminating statements. This takes place during several important steps:

• Reviewing all allegations
• Obtaining and analyzing all relevant documents – incorporating any appropriate ones in the doctor’s response
• Reviewing the doctor’s personal statement – doctors will submit a personal statement to be reviewed by their attorney only
• Crafting the response with extreme professionalism – the attorney will amass the allegations in the complaint with the personal statement, relevant documents, and their experience with medical boards to craft a well thought-out and written professional response.

Medical Board Interview Preparation

There is no doubt that among the most critical components to any medical board investigation is their interview stage of the investigation. The board’s official investigator will conduct this interview, during which time he or she will pose relevant and probing questions concerning the nature of the complaint to the doctor being investigated. This is the opportunity for the doctor under investigation to relate the complaint’s circumstances to the medical board. Any dependable and experienced lawyer will go through all likely queries which the investigator is likely to pose, and also will assist the doctor in deciding the most effective and appropriate means of responding to them.

There are a number of steps the attorney will take in assisting the physician with the interview preparation for the medical board’s interview:

• Set the structure for the investigative interview – the attorney will go through the specifics of the interview such as who will attend and what information is expected.
• Go through possible questions – well-experienced medical review board attorneys are well versed in the likelihood and type of questions to be posed.
• Relay the best answers – the ways that this investigator’s queries are answered will have an enormous impact on the final outcome of the medical board’s investigation.
• Assessment of medical records – when the care of a patient is part of the allegations, it is highly likely that the board investigator will review the patient’s medical records.
• Discuss correct appearance and tone – it is most important that the doctor take the appropriate tone with the interviewer, maintain tight control over personal emotions, and look respectable so that the interview proceeds smoothly and ends well.
• Undertake a practice interview – good lawyers will undertake a sample interview so that the doctor can practice his or her tone and grasp the pace at which the investigator will move.

Medical Board Meeting Guidance

It is important to understand that the whole goal of the meeting of the medical board is to go through the complaint that has been filed and the investigation which staff has conducted to determine if the Medical Practice Act was violated by the accused doctors. They are also there to decide which disciplinary action should be undertaken, if any is appropriate.

Before the board meeting begins, these medical board members will carefully read through every investigative report as well as other relevant documents in advance of the meeting. This makes them well prepared to address every investigation and complaint in the course of the medical board meeting. The doctors appear and receive approximately five minutes to answer any questions posed by board members concerning the investigation itself. Doctors also receive an opportunity to speak freely before the Medical Board members meet privately to go through the complaint issue. They then vote on the appropriate disciplinary action to be taken against the doctor.

Board Meeting Day

• Board meeting agenda review – Since the vast majority of medical board meeting agendas must be posted up at least 24 hours in advance of the meeting, it is prudent for the doctor to learn at what point his or her case will be discussed during the meeting.
• Fill in the speaker’s slip – doctors must fill in the speaker slip that informs the medical board they are present and wish to address the board to make statements and answer any of the medical board’s questions.
• Address the medical board – any doctor should come prepared with talking points before the meeting so that he or she can effectively hit the principal points of the defense.
• Answer any and all board questions well – every predicted question should have a prepared and rehearsed answer before the meeting begins.
• Note the resulting disciplinary decision – listen for what disciplinary action the board decides to pursue against them, whether a dismissal of the complaint, a letter of reprimand, a probationary period, or a suspension of license.

In Conclusion

No physician or medical professional is expected to face the rigors of a medical board investigation and hearing alone. When doctors find themselves brought up for review and medical board investigation based on filed allegations and complaints, this is the time to consult with and hire a reliable and experienced medical license defense attorney. At this stage there is still plenty of time to construct a sound legal defense and to work through all of the most appropriate steps so that the physician can most effectively respond to the questions in the medical board investigatory interview and be prepared for the medical board hearing.

Contact New York Criminal Lawyers today to schedule a no-obligation consultation regarding personal complaints and investigation cases.