In 2019, we represented a licensee of the Department of Insurance who had previously held a restricted license due to a criminal conviction.  After the initial restrictions were lifted, the client was disciplined twice by FINRA, revoked in another state, and had an application denied in yet another state. The client failed to notify DOI about either of the out-of-state matters as required by the Insurance Code, and one of the FINRA disciplinary actions.  The…

Our office represented a registered nurse in 2019 who had suffered discipline from a registered nursing state agency outside of California.  The allegations were that the nurse had admitted to a substance abuse dependency and was subject to five years of monitoring in the other state due to that admission.  The California Board of Registered Nursing brought an Accusation against the client, attempting to revoke the client’s license.  After careful consideration of our client’s credibility, the…

A licensed vocational nurse functioning as a supervisor of other LVNs in a care facility was accused by the facility of failing to report an incident of a patient falling in the facility.  With our guidance, the nurse admitted to the DCA investigator that the fall had occurred and it had not been properly reported.  We assisted the nurse in presenting evidence of rehabilitation as well as the context for the incident, including the nurse’s…

As part of the State of California’s ongoing battle against the spread of COVID-19, Governor Gavin Newsom announced the formation of the California Health Corps, a measure designed to dramatically expand the health care workforce and staff the additional hospital beds necessary to treat COVID-19 patients.  The breadth of the health corps encompasses nearly all professional licensees, including: –          Physicians, including residents –          Pharmacists –          Dentists –          Nurse practitioners –          Physical assistants –          Nurses (RNs, LVNs, and CNAs), including nursing…

The worldwide spread of COVID-19 is placing unprecedented stress and demand on California physicians, registered nurses, nurse practitioners, physician assistants, and other medical professionals.  However, despite these urgent demands, the administrative disciplinary system continues to investigate claims of unprofessional conduct, and hearings for nurses and doctors are still being scheduled, prepared, and settled, despite the temporary court closure (which we have written about in a separate article). As doctors and nurses make sacrifices to protect…

By order of the Director and Chief of the Office of Administrative Hearings, Zackery P. Morazzini, on March 19, 2020, all hearing rooms at the Office of Administrative Hearings (OAH) locations are closed for business, and no hearings at off-site locations will take place.  The order lasts through April 16, 2020.  Interim and Temporary Suspension Order hearings are still taking place via telephone, as well as other hearings not directly applicable to professional licensees…

Editor’s Note: this article was written and posted on March 24, 2020, during the COVID-19 global pandemic.  It reflects a state of affairs in California that changes hourly.  The information contained may be out of date. California continues to experience extremely high demand for nurses in critical care settings to response to the COVID-19 outbreak.  Nurses who are healthy and able to work are demonstrating courage and heroism daily.  However, many nurses are laboring to…