When you receive a letter from the New York State Department of Health’s Office of Professional Medical Conduct (OPMC) or Office of Professional Discipline (OPD) stating that they plan on investigating you, you may understandably begin to panic. At this time, you may be unsure as to whether or not your paranoia is just convincing you that you indeed made a negligent medical mistake or violated a professional rule. Either way, you may be hesitant to share the full story with your hired legal representative. If this is how you are currently feeling, please read on to discover whether you should admit to your New York OPMC/OPD misconduct defense lawyer when you think you are guilty of committing medical misconduct, and how we at Walker Medical Law can guide you through this frighteningly unknown time.
Should I tell my lawyer the full truth if I think I committed medical misconduct?
Even though you may assume the opposite, failing to admit that you are guilty of medical misconduct to your lawyer may seriously hurt your defense case. In short, when you lead your lawyer astray in this way, they may unintentionally make inaccurate arguments that contradict the evidence already obtained by the OPMC’s investigators and submitted to the Board. With this serious harm to your credibility, the Board may ultimately heighten the disciplinary actions they decide to place against you.
And so, we do not want you to feel shame or fear in telling the whole truth about the medical misconduct incident in question. We are not here to judge you, but rather, our job is to do damage control and offer you legal protection. In short, we cannot execute our responsibilities thoroughly if we do not have all the facts at our disposal. Please remember that the lawyer-client privilege exists for this exact reason.
Can my lawyer help me even if I am guilty or made a serious mistake?
After you give your lawyer all the information regarding the incident that was reported, they may offer their experienced opinion and tell you they believe you may be guilty of committing medical misconduct. However, you must understand that being guilty does not necessarily mean that you do not have a solid legal defense strategy at your disposal. That is, your lawyer may still effectively argue that there was no intent behind your medical mistake, that the incident did not cause serious harm, that you do not have a prior history of misconduct with the Board, etc.
While the Board may still rule you as guilty, with any of these given arguments, your lawyer may be able to talk them down from punishing you quite harshly. For example, instead of an order for the permanent revocation of your medical license, the Board may only require a temporary suspension, which can be lifted after paying a fine, completing community service hours, attending therapy, treatment, compliance programs, or continuing education programs, etc.
With all that being said, please do not hesitate to work together with one of the competent New York OPMC/OPD misconduct defense lawyers. The team at Walker Medical Law will have your best interests at heart always and will fight for justice to reign in your favor.
