If you are a doctor practicing in Myrtle Beach, Conway, Georgetown, or in the smaller communities within Horry County or Georgetown County, you provide critical healthcare to patients in South Carolina. Whether you work in a large hospital, such as Grand Strand Medical Center or Conway Medical Center, run your own private practice, or serve in community-based clinics, your patients need your knowledge and expertise.
Your license is foundational to your medical practice. Any threat to your license is a threat to your livelihood and future.
The LLF National Law Firm defends physicians facing disciplinary investigations, hearings, and sanctions in Myrtle Beach, Conway, and throughout South Carolina.
If you are a doctor accused of a discipline violation in Myrtle Beach, you are not alone. The LLF National Law Firm Professional License Defense Team is ready to help. Regardless of the circumstances or allegations, our experienced attorneys can fight to protect you and your medical license. To partner with the LLF National Law Firm, call our offices at 888-535-3686 or contact us online.
Practicing Medicine in the Myrtle Beach Area
Doctors in Myrtle Beach and the surrounding area rely on their education, training, and clinical experience to diagnose and treat patients in South Carolina. Of course, these doctors know that their daily practice is also regulated by the state’s Board of Medical Examiners (the Board) and the law, rules, and standards that the Board enforces.
The Board consists of thirteen members, including:
- Three lay members.
- One doctor of osteopathic medicine.
- Two physicians from anywhere in South Carolina.
- Seven physicians, one from each of South Carolina’s congressional districts.
The Board is responsible for licensing physicians, both medical doctors and doctors of osteopathic medicine, and for investigating and disciplining licensees for misconduct under South Carolina’s Medical Practice Act. The Board also oversees licenses and discipline for other healthcare providers such as physician assistants, anesthesiologist assistants, respiratory care practitioners, registered cardiovascular invasive specialists, acupuncturists, auricular therapists, and auricular detoxification specialists.
Common Allegations of Misconduct Made Against Physicians in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina
As a physician, you have devoted a decade or more to your education and training. After spending years gaining the knowledge and clinical experience necessary to care for patients and establishing a professional reputation, it can be devastating to learn that a professional license complaint has been filed against you.
Common allegations that lead to disciplinary investigations and hearings include:
- Behavior that exploits the physician-patient relationship in a sexual manner. Effective medical care requires trust. There is an inherent power imbalance in the relationship between a sick or medically compromised patient and the physician on whom the patient relies. To protect vulnerable patients, the relationship between a doctor and patients must be free of manipulation, coercion, and exploitation.
- Substance abuse. The habitual or excessive use of drugs, alcohol, or other substances that cause impairment is prohibited. Additionally, a physician who attempts to practice medicine while their judgment or physical ability is impaired by alcohol, drugs, or other substances commits misconduct.
- Failure to cooperate or comply with the Board, including an investigation or an order, subpoena, or directive of the Board.
- Failure to properly prescribe or secure controlled substances, including signing a blank prescription form or prescribing drugs without first establishing a physician-patient relationship.
- Disruptive behavior with physicians, hospital personnel, patients, and others that could adversely impact the quality of care, including but not limited ot inappropriate sexual behavior.
- Fraud or dishonest acts. Because trust is a fundamental component of effective healthcare, physicians are prohibited from engaging in fraud or misrepresentation, including on their licensing application.
- Criminal convictions. Being convicted of, pleading guilty to, or pleading nolo contendere to a felony or other crime involving moral turpitude constitutes misconduct.
Physicians accused of misconduct often feel isolated, embarrassed, confused, and angry. Don’t let your feelings impair a rigorous defense. Let the LLF National Law Firm help you challenge any complaint made against you. We can partner with you to develop a comprehensive license defense strategy.
Disciplinary Processes for Physicians in the Myrtle Beach Area
The Board oversees the investigation and adjudication of licensing complaints against physicians. In South Carolina, the disciplinary process includes:
A Complaint
Anyone can file a complaint against a South Carolina physician. Patients, the family members of patients, coworkers, and colleagues are frequent sources of license complaints. In some cases, internal quality review processes in hospitals and medical centers may lead to an incident report being forwarded to the Board. Importantly, the Board or the director of the state department can file a complaint based on reliable information.
A complaint that does not identify conduct that would be considered a violation may be dismissed.
If the complaint identifies conduct that would be considered a violation, a formal complaint is authorized.
Opportunity for Agreement
Before the authorization of a formal complaint, an accused licensee may be able to negotiate a disposition of the allegations. Such agreements often involve the doctor accepting some level of responsibility or sanction. In return, the discipline process ends without a formal complaint. The risk of unexpectedly receiving a severe sanction is mitigated. Any physician considering an agreement should fully understand all the terms before signing the document.
The LLF National Law Firm Professional License Defense Team can strategize with you about obtaining a consent order in your case. We negotiate an agreement on your behalf, fighting to ensure the terms protect you and your best interests.
Investigation and Panel Hearing
After the complaint is assigned for investigation, an investigator will notify the accused physician in writing about the complaint. The physician has the opportunity to respond. The physician’s response should be carefully crafted to present a clear, well-organized, and thoughtful defense.
After the investigation is complete, a hearing is scheduled before a Medical Disciplinary Commission panel.
During the hearing, panel members will listen to witness testimony, review evidence, and make recommendations about findings of fact, conclusions of law, and mitigating and aggravating circumstances to the Board.
If you are preparing for an investigation or disciplinary hearing, let the LLF National Law Firm develop
p and implement a comprehensive license defense strategy for you. From evidence collection and presentation to the identification of exonerating witnesses, our experienced attorneys can provide guidance and assistance before, during, and after the hearing.
Board Review
The Board reviews the panel’s recommendation. The accused physician may appear at the hearing and submit a brief. The Board will either adopt the panel’s report, return the case to the panel for further consideration, or hold a new hearing.
Sanctions
If the Board determines that a formal disciplinary action is warranted, the licensee will be sanctioned. In South Carolina, sanctions include additional education or training, practice limitations, civil penalties, probation, and license suspension or revocation. Formal disciplinary actions become part of the physician’s permanent record and are publicly available
Right to Review
If the licensee receives an unfavorable decision or sanction, a physician may seek review or appeal the Board’s final notice by filing a petition for review by an administrative law judge (ALJ). The ALJ will make a decision based on information from the original investigation and hearing.
The record created throughout the disciplinary process is critical to an effective appeal or review process. At the LLF National Law Firm, we know that creating a strong, well-organized record from the beginning of the disciplinary process is a critical tool in any appeal.
If a physician receives a particularly severe sanction, such as a license suspension or revocation, the ALJ must review the case and issue a determination within 30 days.
During the ALJ’s review, sanctions remain in place.
The administrative review process involves strict timelines and requirements. If you have been sanctioned, the experienced license defense attorneys at the LLF National Law Firm can discuss the timeline, process, and strategy for pursuing an appeal.
As a physician, you provide critical medical care in and around Myrtle Beach, Conway, or Georgetown, South Carolina. Your education and experience inform the difficult medical and patient care decisions you make. If you are accused of professional misconduct, the life and license you need to protect is your own. When you need to save yourself, your license, and your career, the LLF National Law Firm can help.
Let the LLF National Law Firm Help Defend Your License and Your Future
In South Carolina, disciplinary investigations and hearings are adversarial. The Board is focused on enforcement actions and sanctions, not on protecting you or your medical license. The earlier you assemble a defense team to protect you and your livelihood, the better. The LLF National Law Firm is ready to collaborate with you to create and execute a comprehensive license defense strategy in response to any disciplinary threat.
The LLF National Law Firm Professional License Defense Team can defend you and your license through any investigation or hearing by:
- Serving as your trusted legal advisor to answer your questions about South Carolina professional licensing law, rules, and processes.
- Helping you identify your priorities and developing a defense strategy that aligns with your best interests.
- Ensuring the Board meets its notice and due process requirements.
- Executing our own investigation to identify mitigating evidence and exonerating witnesses.
- Negotiating an agreement on your behalf to avoid a formal complaint and ensuring you fully understand the terms before signing.
- Preparing correspondence, statements, and any other required documents for submission to the Board, its investigator, or its hearing officer.
- Identifying relevant filing dates and deadlines to ensure decision-makers have access to your perspective and related evidence and that your best interests are protected.
- Developing an appellate strategy, if necessary.
It is never too late to discuss your case with a member of the LLF National Law Firm Professional License Defense Team. Whether you work in Myrtle Beach, Conway, Georgetown, or another community in South Carolina, we can help.
The Impact of Disciplinary Sanctions
The impact of an adverse determination by the Board can undermine your life and career. Without the ability to advance in the career you chose and invested in, your livelihood and financial security may be in jeopardy.
Board sanctions can cause a domino effect across every aspect of your practice, including:
- Triggering internal credential reviews and the subsequent loss of admitting rights or on-call privileges at hospitals or medical centers.
- Limiting the participation or excluding sanctioned physicians from provider networks.
- Jeopardizing current employment and limiting future employment opportunities. Some hospitals and medical groups may decline to hire a sanctioned physician. Others may restrict the practice or require heightened supervision of a sanctioned licensee.
Additionally, many accused physicians find that there is a tremendous personal cost to disciplinary proceedings. From the hardship of losing your income to the impact on your physical and mental health, a disciplinary investigation, hearing, and sanction can disrupt every corner of your life.
The Professional License Defense Team at the LLF National Law Firm can help you throughout any license disciplinary procedure. The sooner you add the LLF National Law Firm to your team, the sooner we can help protect you and your nursing license.
Protecting Physicians and Physician Licenses in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina
We understand that, as a physician, your work is profoundly challenging and rewarding. You make decisions with life and death consequences in intense situations.
You can make the right diagnosis, provide the best treatment, and prescribe the appropriate medicine or other interventions, but you do not control your patient’s health, the progression of their disease, or the effectiveness of treatment.
When the worst happens and a patient suffers, their loved ones may look for someone to blame. In these circumstances, it is easy to see how a physician can become a target, but that doesn’t make it right.
If you face a license investigation or hearing and are ready to challenge the allegations against you, let our experienced attorneys fight on your behalf and for your medical license.
Whether you practice in Myrtle Beach, Conway, or the surrounding area, the LLF National Law Firm’s Professional License Defense Team can partner with you to protect your license, your career, and your livelihood. Call the LLF National Law Firm at 888-535-3686 or contact us online to discuss your case.