Health Care Industry | The Health Law Firm Blog

Florida Pharmacy Allegedly the Cause of Eye Infection Outbreak

The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) has allegedly traced a rare fungal infection to an Ocala pharmacy, according to media reports. As reported, Franck’s Compounding Lab is believed to be at least partially responsible for spreading a rare fungal eye infection to over 30 patients across the U.S.

The CDC reports that eye drops and injections traced back to the lab caused the infections. These ophthalmic products contained multiple fungal and bacterial species, according to the CDC. The products have now been recalled, but were in use for over a year before the recall. The CDC has also issued a warning to avoid any product labeled sterile from Franck’s.

The patients impacted by the contaminated products had all undergone some type […]

By The Health Law Firm|2024-03-14T10:00:30-04:00June 1, 2018|Department of Health, Health Care Industry, In the News, Pharmacy, The Health Law Firm Blog|

Senators Want National Investigation of State Medical Boards

By George F. Indest III, J.D., M.P.A., LL.M., Board Certified by The Florida Bar in Health Law

A bipartisan effort has been initiated by three U.S. Senators to launch a national evaluation of state medical boards. Senators Charles Grassley (R-Iowa), Orrin Hatch (R-Utah) and Max Baucus (D-Mont.) sent a letter to the director of the Office of the Inspector General (OIG) for the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) requesting an investigation into state medical boards at the end of February 2012.

In the letter the senators ask the OIG to launch a national investigation of state medical boards in which the OIG would:

Identify challenges and process improvements for state medical boards, including those that occur across state boundaries;
Identify legislative changes that […]

By The Health Law Firm|2024-03-14T10:00:30-04:00June 1, 2018|Department of Health, Health Care Industry, In the News, The Health Law Firm Blog|

The 25 Biggest Mistakes Physicians Make After Being Notified of a Department of Health Complaint

The investigation of a complaint which could lead to the revocation of a physician’s license to practice medicine and the assessment of tens of thousands of dollars in fines, usually starts with a simple letter from the Department of Health (DOH). This is a very serious legal matter and it should be treated as such by the physician who receives it. Yet, in many cases, attorneys are consulted by physicians after the entire investigation is over, and they have attempted to represent themselves throughout the case. Often, the mistakes that have been made severely compromise an attorney’s ability to achieve a favorable result for the physician.

These are the 25 biggest mistakes we see in the physician cases […]

By The Health Law Firm|2024-03-14T10:00:25-04:00June 1, 2018|Department of Health, Health Care Industry, The Health Law Firm Blog|

Preparing for a Florida Board of Medicine Informal Hearing

by George F. Indest III, J.D., M.P.A., LL.M.
Board Certified by The Florida Bar in Health Law

If you are scheduled to appear for an informal hearing before the Florida Board of Medicine, there are a number of facts that you will want to know in order to be properly prepared. This article will cover many of them.

Limited Circumstances for Informal Administrative Hearing

First, you should understand that you will only be at an informal hearing in which you appear before the Board of Medicine itself for a very limited number of reasons. These will include the following:

If you completed an election of rights (EOR) form and agreed that you did not intend to dispute any material facts alleged against you from […]

By The Health Law Firm|2024-03-14T10:00:29-04:00June 1, 2018|Board of Medicine, Department of Health, Health Care Industry, Informal Hearings, The Health Law Firm Blog|

How to Avoid Allegations of Unauthorized Corporate Practice of Medicine

By George F. Indest III, J.D., M.P.A., LL.M., Board Certified by The Florida Bar in Health Law

The following tips may help you to avoid allegations of unuathorized corporate practice of medicine, whether you are in a state that prohibits the corporate practice of medicine or not:

All contracts, job descriptions and other documents used in the employment of physicians should consistently stress the requirement of the physician to exercise his or her own independent professional judgment at all times.
A corporation entering into a transaction for a physician’s services should fully explain that any existing quality assurance, utilization review, capitation/bonus arrangement, or similar plan should not be interpreted to impede or interfere with the independent medical judgment of the physician in treating patients. […]

By The Health Law Firm|2024-03-14T10:00:29-04:00June 1, 2018|Health Care Industry, The Health Law Firm Blog|

Peer Review and “Disruptive Physician” Cases Physicians Should Know

Although Meyers v. Columbia/HCA Healthcare Corp.is one of the major cases concerning termination of clinical privileges and peer review hearings, there have been other recent clinical privileges cases that are important for physicians to know when confronted with a peer review action. This is especially true if the physician is being accused of disruptive behavior.

One such case is Isaiah v. WHMS Braddock Hospital Corp., decided in 2008. In this case, Dr. Isaiah’s medical staff privileges were revoked after hospital staff members reportedly expressed concerns about the surgeon’s surgical skills and allegedly compulsive behavior. Dr. Isaiah argued that his behavior did not impact his skills. The court concluded that the hospital’s revocation of Dr. Isaiah’s medical staff privileges was immune from liability under […]

By The Health Law Firm|2024-03-14T10:00:29-04:00June 1, 2018|Health Care Industry, The Health Law Firm Blog|

Legal Strategy Checklist for Doctors to Fight Online Defamation

With the increase in popularity of online review sites, defamatory attacks against doctors have also increased. On these sites, patients and competitors can post almost anything they want – good or bad – about a doctor or any health care professional. As more physicians become employees of hospital systems or large health care institutions, adverse surveys, reports or reviews may impact advancement, bonuses and basic income.

Internet ratings on review sites like Vitals.com and Yelp.com can range from jabs about the patient’s waiting time in the doctor’s office to ruthless attacks that can seriously impact a physician’s career, including economical impact. In many cases, the review, comment, or rating may be a purposely untrue statement by a disgruntled patient, competitor or former employee. When the comment is posted, search engines […]

By The Health Law Firm|2024-03-14T10:00:29-04:00June 1, 2018|Health Care Industry, The Health Law Firm Blog|

Are You Working at an Illegal Health Care Clinic?

Despite the passage of Florida’s Health Care Clinic Act over nine years ago, there are apparently still many health practices which are violating it. Unfortunately, the violation of the Health Care Clinic Act can have extremely serious repercussions, including conviction of a felony, loss of all fees collected, and disciplinary/licensure action against any physicians, nurses or other licensed health professionals working there.

Over the past three years we have seen the following scenarios or ones similar to these (changed factually to ensure anonymity):

Scenario 1: A physician licensed in Florida decides to sell her practice and retire. Three non-licensed business people decide to form a corporation to purchase and operate the practice. The corporation purchases the […]

By The Health Law Firm|2024-03-14T10:00:29-04:00June 1, 2018|Health Care Industry, The Health Law Firm Blog|

At Last, a Ray of Hope for Florida Health Professionals Who Have Paid Their Debt to Society After Criminal Conviction

The Florida Legislature unanimously passed HB 653 which relaxes some of the draconian exclusions enacted under SB 1986, which went into effect on July 1, 2009. SB 1986, which added provisions to Chapter 456, Florida Statutes, among others, prevented numerous healthcare providers from obtaining or renewing licenses based on prior criminal convictions, which could have occurred decades earlier.

As of this writing (March 16, 2012), HB 653 has been passed unanimously by the Florida Legislature, but awaits the Governor’s signature.

Under HB 653, the professional boards within the Department of Health (such as the Board of Medicine, Board of Nursing, Board of Psychology, Board of Massage Therapy, etc.) now will, if signed by the Governor, only […]

By The Health Law Firm|2024-03-14T10:00:28-04:00June 1, 2018|Department of Health, Health Care Industry, In the News, The Health Law Firm Blog|

What Physicians Need to Know About Clinical Privileges and Peer Review Actions From the Meyers Case

If you are a physician with hospital privileges or have ever been called a “disruptive physician” make sure you are familiar with Meyers v. Columbia/HCA Healthcare Corp., which was finally decided in 2003. In ruling on disruptive physician cases, courts almost always rely on Meyers, and it has been cited repeatedly in other disruptive physician cases to justify a hospital or medical staff’s peer review actions disciplining the physician.

In this case, Dr. Meyers, an orthopedic surgeon, received provisional medical staff privileges at a hospital. A year later, the credentials committee at his hospital, comprised of three board members, re-evaluated Dr. Meyers for advancement to active staff privileges. He was denied active staff privileges by the committee for reasons that included his […]

By The Health Law Firm|2024-03-14T10:00:28-04:00June 1, 2018|Health Care Industry, The Health Law Firm Blog|