It may take you three to five months to renew your medical license. Understandably, with working such long hours and attending to so many patients, filling out this renewal application may be the least of your priorities. However, you must make it a point to carve out time for this, before your license is set to expire and you find yourself on the wrong side of New York State’s criminal and civil laws. Follow along to find out whether it is considered medical misconduct if you practice without a license renewal and how one of the proficient New York physician defense lawyers at Walker Medical Law can help you avoid this potentially detrimental situation.
Is it considered medical misconduct if I practice without a license renewal?
Upon licensure, physicians may receive a registration certificate valid for two years. For other medical professionals, this validity period may be set to three years. In either case, physicians and other medical professionals are expected to apply for a license renewal at these times. This may be as easy as receiving a renewal form in the mail 90 days before its expiration date, filling it out, and mailing it back with the required $600 renewal fee.
Importantly, you must stop practicing if there is a gap between when your medical license expires and when you are waiting for your renewal application to be approved. This is because you may be in serious trouble if you get caught. Or if you, most unfortunately, hurt a patient while your license is currently expired.
What are the penalties for practicing medicine without a renewal of license?
The New York State Department of Health’s Office of Professional Medical Conduct (OPMC) or Office of Professional Discipline (OPD) is charged with issuing professional licenses, enforcing rules for medical professionals, and taking disciplinary action against medical professionals who engage in misconduct. This is to say that the OPMC or OPD may inflict harsh civil penalties on you upon learning that you continued to practice after failing to renew the license administered to you. Namely, the Board may temporarily suspend your license in a certain area of medicine or permanently revoke your license altogether, among other things.
You must also understand that practicing medicine without a license renewal may be considered a criminal offense in New York State. So, being found guilty of doing so may result in criminal penalties such as considerable jail time and hefty fines. This is not to mention what a permanent criminal record may do to your professional reputation in the medical community.
At the end of the day, if you have any lingering doubts about your medical misconduct case, one of the talented New York physician defense lawyers can help relieve them. So whenever you are ready to start, please reach out to Walker Medical Law.
