Physicians face all manner of complaints lodged against them with the Texas Medical Board. Some of them the Board dismisses without pursuing—because they are clearly not within the Board’s purview to review. Some of them, which do fall under the Board’s competence, are legitimate and deserve pursuing. But some complaints allege matters over which the Board does have control, the claims of which are erroneous or even wholly fabricated—and nevertheless, the Board will investigate them. And, what’s worse, even if the allegations are false, the complaint may end up with a physician facing discipline, nonetheless.
So, the first rule when you, a Texas physician, are faced with an outright spurious complaint, is: Do not ignore it and think that, since it is unfounded, everything will work itself out. That, unfortunately, is just not how things go.
As the licensing agency for physicians, the Texas Medical Board is charged with protecting the public from the misbehavior of doctors and other medical professionals. The agency has little to no interest in proving (or even assuming) a physician’s innocence—rather, it will attack matters from a prosecutorial standpoint. This is how it justifies its existence. Nor is it limited, as in a criminal trial, to merely the matter stated in the complaint. It will launch an investigation into the complaint—and, even if it finds that the initial complaint was spurious, if it happens to come across anything it considers objectionable in the course of investigations, these new matters will be included in the decision-making process, and may result in a physician being censured. This means that any notice of a complaint, no matter how baseless, puts a physician’s reputation, livelihood, and even license on the line.
A skilled and experienced medical license defense attorney can help with this. We know the complaint process inside and out and, if brought in as soon as a complaint is received, we can respond to the complaint with the proper information to keep the scope of the investigation focused on the spurious claim, and, in some cases, even get the complaint dismissed at the outset. Which is to say, the earlier you contact us, the better your license’s chance of remaining untarnished, and the less likely you are to lose your livelihood.
Medical License Defense Attorney Serving Physicians Throughout Texas
The attorneys at BERTOLINO LLP are experienced medical professional license defense attorneys. We are prepared to represent you at any legal hearing or proceeding regarding your license. BERTOLINO LLP represents licensed medical professionals across the entire State of Texas. To best serve our clients we have offices in Austin, Houston, and San Antonio. Our honest, experienced attorneys will fight aggressively on behalf of your license and reputation.
Contact us today or call (512) 476-5757 and schedule a case evaluation.
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