The Most commonly pursued grounds for discipline include the following:

Standard of Care Violations
Improper Prescribing Practices
Poor Documentation, Charting & Record Keeping
Sexual & Personal Boundary Violations
Chemical Dependency & The Intemperate Use of Drugs & Alcohol
Failure to Comply with CME Requirements
Failure to Timely pay Licensure Fees
The Conviction of a Criminal Offense
Malpractice Suits & Judgments
Other Conduct Likely to Deceive or Defraud the Public
Types of Penalties

- Administrative Penalty (Fine)

- Directive to Fulfill Neglected Obligation (Specific Performance)

- Public Reprimand

- License Restriction or Impositions on Practice

- Confidential (Private) Rehabilitation Order

- Probation of a License Suspension

- Active Suspension as a Requirement of Probation

- Revocation

For a detailed list of the grounds for discipline or what conduct constitutes a violation of the Medical Practice and penalties for violations of the Medical Practice, please go to:

www.leg.state.fl.us and see Florida Statutes Title XXXII Chapter 458.331 and Chapter 458.327

The more frequent mistakes professionals make while under investigation by their licensing Board for allegations of professional misconduct are:

- Ignore the initial inquiry thereby committing a potential act of misconduct in-and-of- itself.

- Refuse to hire an attorney thinking they can handle the matter by themselves.

- Do not take the matter seriously or fail to recognize the severity of the situation.

- Fail to realize that they are their own worst advocates and although they may “be in the right” they are not in a good position to attack or rebut their accusers.

- Refuse to cooperate with the investigator and thereby subject themselves to an additional allegation of misconduct or endure harsher sanctions if misconduct is found to have occurred.

- Represent themselves during the investigatory and hearing stages of the disciplinary process.

- Fail to properly prepare for a hearing

- Improperly document and present mitigation evidence so that it is not accepted or given the deference or consideration it should receive

- Talk to a variety of attorneys and experts on the disciplinary process and think that if they can gather enough information then they can adequately represent themselves

- Hire an attorney on the basis of cost or convenience and sacrifice the quality of their representation and the potential final outcome of the process

- Fail to realize that their medical liability policy probably provides for the payment of attorney’s fees on licensure actions

- Begin to talk to friends and colleagues about the investigation failing to realize that the Board’s investigator may question these very people in the future

- Disregard or overlook the complexity of the law (statutes, rules and regulations) involved in the proceeding

- Tell the investigator everything disclosing information beyond the scope of the current investigation

- Fail to realize that once an attorney is hired the Board and its staff is prohibited from contacting them directly

- Fail to recognize that this is complex litigation and is best handled by an attorney who is familiar with the process

- Do not take the proper steps during the investigatory stage to remedy a problem if one has indeed occurred

- Fail to recognize what the problem is and what the investigation is centered upon

- Do not respond to requests in a timely or proper manner

- Do not know how to properly prepare and document evidence for submission and consideration

- They disregard the well known Attorney’s creed: “He who represents himself has a fool for a client and a _________for a lawyer“.