If you are a physician working in the Portland area – including nearby cities like Beaverton, Eugene, Hillsboro, and Salem, among a number of others – it’s a given that you have devoted much of your life to getting you to this point. Think of how many years you’ve spent just going to school – 20 or more – plus the years you spent as a resident, and possibly more time completing a fellowship. On top of which you’ve had to pass any number of exams, from the SATs or ACTs, to the MCATs, then the USMLE, and possibly an additional exam for board certification.
All of this means that your medical license is probably your most valuable personal asset, both in terms of how much of your life you’ve spent earning it and what its future value is to you. That is why if you learn that someone has filed a misconduct complaint against you with the Oregon Medical Board, you need to take immediate steps to protect yourself and your future. The LLF National Law Firm’s Professional License Defense Team is here for you. Call us at 888.535.3686, or submit our online contact form to schedule a confidential consultation with one of our experienced attorneys to discuss your case and learn how we can help.
Physicians in the Portland Metro Area
According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, there are more than 6000 physicians, including many with specialties, in the Portland metro area. On average, as you probably know, it is an extremely well-paying profession, with annual mean wages in the $250,000-$500,000 range depending on the specialty. This makes it even more important that you take active steps to defend yourself if you have been accused of misconduct. Losing the ability to work as a physician because your license is suspended or revoked means you will lose that income, and at those high levels, it can be almost impossible to find another job that will pay as well.
You also need to worry about lesser forms of discipline. Even if your license isn’t suspended or revoked by the Oregon Medical Board, a public sanction can have an impact on your reputation and the willingness of patients to trust you with their care. While the effect of this will depend on the type of medicine you practice, there is no doubt that, as a general matter, it is better not to have a public disciplinary record if you can avoid it. The Oregon Medical Board makes it easy for the public to check on the status of a license, and to see whether the physician has been publicly disciplined in the past.
What all of this means is that you need to take active steps to protect your license as soon as you learn that someone has filed a complaint against you. By contacting the LLF National Law Firm’s Professional License Defense Team as soon as you are notified about the complaint, you will be certain of having an experienced attorney helping you with this matter from day one. We will explain the process to you; keep you informed about what is happening with your case; represent you when communications with the Board and its investigator; conduct our own investigation in cases where that may help; and consistently be there for you to fight for your rights and to protect your license and your future.
Disciplinary Actions Against Physicians in the Portland Metro Area
The Oregon Medical Board has a responsibility to the public to protect them against situations where a physician’s actions may cause their patients harm. The Board will investigate allegations of physician misconduct, and is not shy about disciplining physicians when alleged misconduct is substantiated. The Board has a lot of freedom when it comes to the different types of misconduct it will discipline a physician for; that said, Oregon law also identifies many of the main types of misconduct that can result in a physician being sanctioned. These include:
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Practicing while under the influence of alcohol or drugs
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Being convicted of a crime that could result in the physician serving jail time (state or federal)
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Any “unprofessional or dishonorable” conduct
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False statements in connection with their license application or renewal
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Misleading patients about the effectiveness of their treatment
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Improperly disclosing a patient’s confidential information
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Practicing medicine when they are not competent to do so
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Refusing or failing to comply with a request from the Board
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Refusing to meet with the Board for an informal interview when asked to do so
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Being disciplined in another state where they hold a professional license
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Violations of the Controlled Substances Act
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Any violation of Oregon law that regulates the practice of physicians, or of any Board rule or order
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Committing acts of gross negligence or repeated acts of negligence when practicing medicine
That said, not every complaint that the Board receives will result in an investigation or discipline of the physician named in the complaint. Some complaints are about matters that the Board does not regulate. Fee disputes, for example, where there is no allegation of fraud by the physician, are generally not matters the Board has jurisdiction over. Nor will the Board typically investigate allegations that the physician or a staff member was rude to a patient.
Of course, there are many complaints that the Board will accept and move forward with. Most times, it will appoint an investigator to look into the allegations. The process can take months, and it can wear on you if you are not sure what’s happening and don’t have someone in your corner to keep track of the matter and stay on top of it. The investigation will almost always include an interview with the physician named in the complaint, and may include interviews with others who may have information. The investigator may also request documents and other information from you, your workplace, and other individuals.
When it comes to the interview, most of us are not used to a situation where someone is sitting across a conference table from us and asking us detailed questions about things we have been accused of doing wrong. Nor are we used to giving up personal or business records on request. If you are working with one of the attorneys from the LLF National Law Firm’s Professional License Defense Team, however, we will help you through this process and can take much of the burden off your shoulders. Remember, it is important that you cooperate with a Board investigation; failing to do so can lead to another misconduct complaint. When you work with us, you can be sure that cooperation with the investigation will not become an issue.
In some cases, depending on the facts, our attorneys may conduct their own investigation into the allegations made against you. This typically happens when we believe that there is evidence that could help your case that the Board’s investigator has ignored or has failed to discover. We can then provide the evidence to the investigator or the Board, along with an explanation of why it is relevant and how it helps you.
Sometimes, after an investigation is complete, the Board will decide to close the matter and not move forward with formal charges against you. Obviously, this is the best-case result. In most cases, however, the Board will use the information gathered by the investigator to file formal charges against the physician who was being investigated. This is the next stage of the disciplinary process, and is one where you will greatly benefit by having the help of an experienced attorney who already understands the issues and the facts. In other words, the sooner you retain the LLF National Law Firm’s Professional License Defense Team, the better our attorneys will be able to help you in the event your case proceeds to the disciplinary stage.
Help During Disciplinary Investigations
While, as a physician, you may be comfortable speaking with patients about their symptoms and helping them understand your diagnosis and their treatment, you are probably not used to being questioned for an extended period of time by an investigator who is focused on uncovering information about your alleged misconduct. An investigator’s interview can be a very stressful experience, and going into it unprepared doesn’t help. When you work with an attorney from the LLF National Law Firm’s Professional License Defense Team, we can prevent that from happening by working with you before your interview so that you know what to expect.
You want to come out of the interview having answered only fair questions that were clear to you. Not every investigator will ask fair or clear questions on the first attempt. Sometimes the questions will be multi-part, or use vague words, or ramble on so that you’re not sure what you’re being asked. We can help you look out for those and take steps to clarify questions before you answer them. We can even be there with you during the interview process to act as backup, helping with the clarification process and making sure you don’t forget any important information – especially information that will help your case.
Many investigations also involve document or data requests. It can be difficult and time-consuming to gather the requested information, especially if you are busy with your medical practice. Our attorneys can help with that. And we can also help make sure that the information the investigator requests is information they are entitled to have.
We can also act as the point of contact between you and the Board (and its investigator). By fielding the communications, our attorneys will take that burden off your shoulders, leaving you to focus on your practice. You also won’t have to worry about missing any of the Board’s deadlines if you work with us; your attorney will stay on top of those for you.
After the Investigation
Once the investigator has finished their report, the Board will review it and decide whether to bring formal charges against you. If the Board decides to do so, it will usually also propose one or more sanctions along with the formal charges. You are free to accept the Board’s proposed sanctions (along with the allegations made against you), or you can negotiate with the Board to come to a different result. Most disciplinary cases are resolved with an agreement; very few go to a formal hearing.
Formal hearings are similar to court cases. They can be very stressful, of course, both because they are live and in person, and because there is no guarantee as to what the outcome will be. Still, under certain circumstances, you may decide to move forward with the hearing if the negotiations with the Board are not moving in the direction you want them to. Remember, even where one of our attorneys is representing you, you are the one who controls whether to settle the matter or to move to the hearing stage.
If your disciplinary case does go to a hearing, you will want one of the experienced attorneys from the LLF National Law Firm’s Professional License Defense Team on your side. We regularly participate in professional disciplinary hearings on behalf of clients all across the US, including in the Portland Metro Area, and we understand the procedures that apply. We will make sure you meet the Board’s deadlines for submitting documents and other information; for putting witnesses on the stand and cross-examining the Board’s witnesses; and for introducing documents into evidence and making sure the Board’s documentary evidence meets the standards for admissibility. Hearings that involve your medical license are important, and you deserve the kind of strong and effective defense that we can provide.
Potential Outcomes
Aside from a dismissal of the matter – obviously the best-case scenario – both formal hearings and consent agreements can result in the following types of sanctions:
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A reprimand
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A requirement that the physician complete one or more remedial education courses
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Limits being placed on the scope of the physician’s practice
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Probation, often with requirements such as periodic reporting or remedial education
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Suspension of the physician’s license for a fixed time period, or until the physician meets certain requirements, such as completing remedial education
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Revocation of the physician’s license
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A fine of up to $10,000, as well as assessment of the costs of the proceeding
As noted above, any public discipline will be reflected in the physician’s record that the public will be able to review.
The LLF National Law Firm Can Defend Your License in the Portland Metro Area
You deserve a strong defense if you have been accused of professional misconduct. The LLF National Law Firm’s Professional License Defense Team can give you one. Our experienced attorneys regularly represent physicians and other professional clients who have been accused of misconduct all across the country, including in the Portland Metro Area. We know the laws, regulations, rules, and procedures that apply in these kinds of cases. We also know how to protect our clients’ rights and how to effectively and fiercely defend them during the investigation and disciplinary process.
While the best time to contact us is as soon as you learn someone has filed a misconduct complaint against you, we can help at any time during the process. Reach out to the LLF National Law Firm’s Professional License Defense Team at 888.535.3686 or by filling out and submitting our online contact form. We will schedule a confidential consultation where you can tell us about the complaint that was made against you, and we can tell you how we will help.