What kinds of issues can the Medical Board address through the complaint process?
The Board is authorized to act only on complaints that may involve a violation of the Medical Practice Act, a state law that covers a wide range of misconduct. Three types of cases account for more than half of the Board’s public actions against providers: quality of care, prescribing (either self-prescribing or improperly prescribing to others) and cases where a provider is impaired due to alcohol or substance abuse. Many other disciplinary cases fall under the broad category of “unprofessional or unethical conduct”, such as violating patient confidentiality, misrepresenting professional credentials or practicing without an active medical license. Problems with medical recordkeeping and sexual misconduct or other boundary violations account for many cases as well.