Our office represented a licensee in 2020 who had earned a license only two years prior, in 2018.  Unfortunately, this client was arrested for DUI just a few months after earning the license, and ultimately pled guilty in 2019.  Having only been licensed for a year at the time of conviction, the client did not realize his reporting duty to the Department of Real Estate and failed to notify the agency of his conviction. …

On September 30, 2018, the Governor signed Assembly Bill 2138, which primarily helps many license applicants with criminal records get professional licenses.  AB 2138 took effect on July 1, 2020. After the change in the law, a plea of guilty or a verdict of guilty can only be used against a licensee or license applicant as a conviction once a judgment has been entered.  (Business and Professions Code section 7.5)   This is…

California Business and Professions Code section 2310 empowers the Medical Board of California to immediately and without prior notice suspend certain California physician licenses.  Business and Professions Code section 2310 provides that if a California physician’s license in another state is suspended or revoked outright and that action is reported to the National Practitioners Data Bank, and the physician’s primary place of practice is outside of California, the physician’s California license can be immediately suspended. …

Mandated Reporting of Sexual Misconduct Allegations against California Licensed Physicians by Healthcare Facilities The Medical Board of California and other healthcare licensing boards hold licensed physicians and other healthcare licensees to an extremely high standard regarding sexual misconduct allegations. Every day physicians, and other healthcare licensees, who communicate with hundreds of patients each week, face the possibility of patients reporting unprofessional conduct, which can trigger a license investigation and license discipline. Existing laws require the…

More Practice-Level Guidelines for Physician Assistants The Physician Assistant Practice Act sets forth supervision requirements for licensed physician assistants (PAs) in California. These requirements set statewide standards for supervision, agreements, and protocols mostly under the delegation of physicians and surgeons. Signed by Governor Newsom on October 9, 2019, and effective January 1, 2020, Senate Bill 697 relaxes chart review and physician signature requirements allowing decisions to be made at the practice level. All references to…

The Department of Business Oversight (DBO) changed its name to the Department of Financial Protection and Innovation (DFPI) effective September 29, 2020.  Along with this name change, effective January 1, 2021, the new California Consumer Financial Protection Law (CCFPL) grants the Department of Financial Protection and Innovation new powers to investigate previously unregulated businesses, such as debt collectors, rent to own contracts and other point of sale financing, consumer credit reporting agencies and credit repair…

Tweaks to C.U.R.E.S. Database Reporting and Access The Controlled Substance Utilization Review and Evaluation System (C.U.R.E.S.) is a prescription monitoring program maintained by California’s licensed physicians, licensed physician assistants, licensed pharmacies, licensed pharmacists, and any other prescribing California health care professionals. On October 2, 2018, the California Department of Justice (DOJ) certified the mandatory statewide use of the C.U.R.E.S. database, consisting of all DEA Schedule II, III, and IV controlled substance prescriptions dispensed in…