Loss of a medical license can have a devastating impact on your life. When your license to practice medicine is taken away, years of work and the money you invested in becoming a doctor are wasted and you cannot continue in your chosen career field. If you are facing disciplinary action, it is advisable to seek legal assistance for medical license defense case to protect your future.
Loss of a License for Controversial Opinions?
There are many reasons why the medical board may come after you and try to take your license. In some cases, the action against you may not result from a clear case of misconduct or even from objective evidence you have done something wrong. Some doctors have faced discipline, probation, suspension of their license, or attempts to take their license simply for expressing their opinions or providing treatments which colleagues find unconventional and, with which the broader medical profession disagrees.
In one instance reported by the New Times, 38 people filed formal complaints with the Board of Osteopathic Examiners after a doctor publicly denounced vaccines. Many more called the board to complain about the doctor’s “anti-vaccine evangelism.” This led the board to consider suspension of the doctor’s license. In this case, the doctor defended himself by claiming the First Amendment protected his right to speak out on the vaccine issue, even if the broader medical consensus in his opinion is wrong.
Ultimately, the Board of Osteopath Examiners dismissed the case against the doctor and let him keep his license- but not until after he faced the risk of professional ruin and not until the case against him sparked a national debate about whether doctors who fail to support vaccinations should be stripped of their right to practice medicine.
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The board made the decision not to suspend the doctor’s license because none of the complaints against him had anything to do with the medical care provided by the cardiologist. Those who argued he should lose his license, however, argued he was violating the Hippocratic Oath to “do not harm” by spreading misleading and false information.
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In another case, a doctor had adverse action taken against his license by the Medical Board of California. According to OC Weekly, the medical board put a physician on probation for the second time in five years because of the alleged role he played in patient overdose deaths. The doctor in this case used mood stabilizers as a method of treatment for drug abuse.
Whether you agree with these doctors, it is important not to create a precedent that expressing an unconventional opinion or using an experimental treatment method should lead to disciplinary action. Medical boards should not be arbiters of whose opinions are politically correct or publicly acceptable. The medical board should restrict itself to pursuing cases where medical care providers clearly caused harm to patients. And those who are facing any type of disciplinary action should be sure they have a full understanding of their rights.
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