The Lento Law Firm Defends Nebraska Dentists
Nebraska is a special Great Plains state with a beautiful natural environment, charming towns, and great university systems offering sophistication, culture, entertainment, and the arts. Nebraska also has a substantial enough population in Omaha, Lincoln, Bellevue, Grand Island, Kearney, and other locales to support thriving dental practices. You may have grown up in Nebraska, gone to school in Nebraska, and started your dental practice in Nebraska. Or you may have licensed elsewhere but moved your dental practice to Nebraska for all its benefits. In any case, you made a good choice when you established and built your dental practice in the great Cornhusker State. A flourishing dental practice can be among the most satisfying and rewarding of professional careers.
Nebraska regulates dentistry, though, like other states. Nebraska has a Dentistry Practice Act that establishes a Board of Dentistry to help the state's Department of Health & Human Services license, regulate, and discipline dentists practicing in the state. You must meet the Board of Dentistry's standards, or you could lose your dental license and practice to professional discipline. Professional disciplinary charges raise serious concerns and questions. They place your Nebraska dental practice at risk. Retain the Lento Law Firm's premier Professional License Defense Team for the representation you need to address and defend Nebraska disciplinary charges. Our Defense Team is available whether you are in Omaha, Lincoln, Bellevue, Grand Island, Kearney, or any other Nebraska location. Call 888.535.3686 or chat with us now for Nebraska dentist disciplinary defense.
Nebraska Board of Dentistry Licensure
Nebraska's Dentistry Practice Act establishes the state's Board of Dentistry primarily as an advisory board to the state's Department of Health & Human Services, which has the statutory responsibility to license, regulate, and discipline dentists within the state. Section 38-1117 of the Dentistry Practice Act requires a license to practice dentistry in the state. The Dentistry Practice Act empowers the Board of Dentistry to establish the educational and examination requirements for licensure, leaving most of the rest of licensure and regulation requirements to the Department. The Department accordingly adopted elaborate administrative regulations governing the practice of dentistry in the state. Those regulations require dentists to apply to the Department for a temporary license, initial license, and license renewal. You must have a Department-issued license to practice dentistry in Nebraska.
Nationwide Stakes to Nebraska Disciplinary Charges
Section 38-1120 of Nebraska's Dentistry Practice Act authorizes the Department of Health & Human Services to issue a license by endorsement to a dentist who already holds a license in a reciprocating state. You doubtless went to substantial time, trouble, and expense to earn your first dental license. Whether you first did that in Nebraska or another state, you worked hard to meet the education and examination requirements, complete the application, and document your good character to the satisfaction of licensing officials. Once you gained your first license, though, you gained the advantage of licensure by credentials endorsement. As long as you maintain your current license in good standing, you can take that license to another reciprocating state for what amounts to automatic endorsement.
Yet all the advantages of reciprocal endorsement become disadvantages when you lose your dental license to discipline in Nebraska. You lose the ability to gain automatic endorsement in other states. And even if you applied for a new or initial license in another state, ready to satisfy once again the initial examination and good character requirements, your discipline in Nebraska might well disqualify you from licensure in the other state. Your stakes when facing Nebraska disciplinary charges are thus not just Nebraska stakes. They are instead nationwide stakes. Face the charges in Nebraska now with our help, before you suffer the consequences later in another state.
Nebraska Board of Dentistry Disciplinary Authority
The Nebraska Board of Dentistry and Department of Health & Human Services have the authority not only to license dentists but also to discipline those licenses. The Dentistry Practice Act does not address discipline. It instead leaves discipline to the provisions of the state's Uniform Credentialing Act for health occupations. Section 38-178 of that Uniform Act authorizes the Department to discipline dentists and other health professionals for any one or more of a long list of grounds. One of those grounds is unprofessional conduct, which the next statute Section 38-179 further defines. Section 38-179 ends by stating that the Department may discipline for other grounds not listed, as the Board of Dentistry and Department may define. The Department and Board have ample statutory authority to discipline. Take their notice of investigation seriously. Get our help.
Nebraska Board of Dentistry Discipline
Nebraska's Department of Health & Human Services has the substantial resources and devoted personnel to pursue disciplinary charges against you. If the Department finds that you committed dental misconduct in a manner that warrants discipline, it will publish that decision along with its other disciplinary actions on its website. That publication gives any patient, employer, colleague, or licensing official in another state the opportunity to discover your discipline and the grounds for your discipline. If the Department finds you committed a wrong relating to dental practice, that finding may be on the internet for all to see for years to come. You don't want discipline on your professional record. It can cost you patients, jobs, and a career. Fight the charges now with our help rather than ignoring them.
Nebraska Board of Dentistry Discipline Forms
The Nebraska Board of Dentistry and Department of Health & Human Services have discretion as to the form of discipline they impose against your dental license. Section 38-178 of the Uniform Credentialing Act states that your dental license “may be issued subject to discipline, be denied, refused renewal, or have other disciplinary measures taken against it” depending on the misconduct in which the Department finds you engaged. Section 38-196 likewise authorizes the Department to “dismiss the action or impose any of the following sanctions: censure; probation; limitation; civil penalty; suspension; or revocation.” Obviously, suspension or revocation interrupt and potentially end your dental practice, making them very serious sanctions. Civil penalties and censures can add to the financial and reputational harm. Don't minimize the disciplinary risks. Instead, get our help.
Nebraska Board of Dentistry Consent Resolution
The discretion that Section 38-196 and other Uniform Credentialing Act provisions grant the Department and Board may work in your favor. Our Defense Team may be able to show disciplinary officials that alternative relief like remedial training or education, or physical or mental examination and treatment, will accomplish the goals of discipline. You may find that a limitation on your dental practice to certain procedures, locations, or patients, or for supervision, may be something you can readily accommodate and that the Board and Department will also accept. Your apology and assurances may alone be sufficient. Let us help you gather and present that evidence, and advocate and negotiate for that alternative relief that may save your dental license and practice.
Nebraska Board of Dental Health Care Disciplinary Grounds
The above discussion briefly indicates that Section 38-178 and Section 38-179 of the state's Uniform Credentialing Act list the grounds on which Nebraska Department of Health & Human Services officials may discipline you for dental misconduct. Consider this summary of those grounds, examples of that misconduct, and how our Defense Team may be able to help you defend those charges.
Credentials Fraud as Grounds for Nebraska Dentist Discipline
Section 38-178 prohibits “misrepresentation of material facts in procuring or attempting to procure a credential.” Examples may include using unauthorized materials during the dental exam, allowing a substitute to take the exam for you, misrepresenting your education on the license application, or concealing a criminal conviction or malpractice judgment on your renewal application. Defenses may involve showing that your statements were true or substantially true, or that your errors or omissions were innocent rather than intended to deceive.
Immorality as Grounds for Nebraska Dentist Discipline
Section 38-178 prohibits “immoral or dishonorable conduct evidencing unfitness to practice the profession in this state.” Examples may include acts of violence like assault or property damage, acts of dishonesty like theft or insurance fraud, and pornography or indecent exposure. Defense may involve disproving the allegations as mistaken identification, retaliation, or exaggeration.
Substance Abuse as Grounds for Nebraska Dentist Discipline
Section 38-178 prohibits “abuse of, dependence on, or active addiction to alcohol, any controlled substance, or any mind-altering substance” or failure to comply with a substance abuse treatment or aftercare program. Defense may involve proving that the complaining witness mistook an innocent prescription drug reaction or sleeplessness as deliberate substance abuse, or proving that the conduct was a one-time event already addressed. Under Section 38-175, referral to Nebraska's Licensee Assistance Program for substance abuse evaluation and treatment may delay and divert disciplinary charges. But do not accept a referral without our review and advice. Your consent agreement may require you to relinquish your license or may impose conditions you cannot readily meet, placing your license at risk.
Criminal Conviction as Grounds for Nebraska Dentist Discipline
Section 38-178 prohibits “conviction of a misdemeanor or felony under Nebraska law or federal law, or a crime in any jurisdiction which, if committed within this state, would have constituted a misdemeanor or felony under Nebraska law and which has a rational connection with the fitness or capacity of the applicant or credential holder to practice the profession.” Example convictions include for violent crimes like kidnapping, domestic violence, and felonious assault, crimes of dishonesty like criminal fraud or embezzlement, drug crimes, and crimes of moral turpitude like indecent exposure. Defense may involve showing no conviction or that the conviction was not a disqualifying crime.
Incompetence as Grounds for Nebraska Dentist Discipline
Section 38-178 prohibits “practice of the profession fraudulently, beyond its authorized scope, with gross incompetence or gross negligence, or in a pattern of incompetent or negligent conduct.” Defense of incompetence charges may require expert defense testimony as to the standard of care and your dental judgment, or proof that you did not do as alleged or were not responsible for the patient or disputed care.
Impaired Practice as Grounds for Nebraska Dentist Discipline
Section 38-178 prohibits “practice of the profession while the ability to practice is impaired by alcohol, controlled substances, drugs, mind-altering substances, physical disability, mental disability, or emotional disability.” The statute also prohibits “illness, deterioration, or disability that impairs the ability to practice the profession.” Defense may involve disproving the complaining witness's credibility, showing mistaken identification, or proving that any limitation did not affect practice. Showing that any interfering mental or physical condition has abated under treatment is another potential defense.
Nebraska Board of Dentistry Disciplinary Procedures
Disciplinary procedures must provide you with the due process necessary for you to have a fair opportunity to contest the charges. The Nebraska Board of Dentistry and Department of Health & Human Services will follow the Uniform Credentialing Act's several provisions authorizing investigation, requiring notice to the accused dentist, offering opportunities for informal resolution, and providing the accused dentist with a formal hearing if necessary. Section 38-1,102 provides for an appeal of any adverse decision, following the state's Administrative Procedure Act. We can help you gather and present evidence, cross-examine adverse witnesses, take an appeal if you have already lost your disciplinary case, and otherwise conduct your defense as strategically and effectively as possible.
Premier Nebraska Dentist Disciplinary Defense
The Lento Law Firm's premier Professional License Defense Team is available across Nebraska to help you with your defense of Nebraska Board of Dentistry disciplinary charges. Our team is available in Omaha, Lincoln, Bellevue, Grand Island, Kearney, or any other Nebraska location. You can trust our Defense Team to provide you with the best available representation. We have helped hundreds of professionals nationwide to defend and defeat disciplinary charges. Call 888.535.3686 or chat with us now for skilled Nebraska dentist disciplinary defense.
