In your long career as a medical professional, you may be bound to encounter some sort of tension or conflict with your patient, colleague, or employer. While sometimes these instances naturally resolve themselves, other times they may be taken more seriously. That is, your patient, colleague, or employer may go as far as to accuse you of medical misconduct. So, you will want to do everything in your power within your daily practice to avoid this possibility from transpiring in the first place. Read on to discover the most commonly reported medical misconduct accusations and how one of the seasoned New York physician defense lawyers at Walker Medical Law can help you avoid such defamatory claims at all costs.
What is the definition of medical misconduct?
By definition, medical misconduct is considered to be when a medical professional fails to provide a level of skill or care that meets the standard recognized and upheld by the New York State medical community. Otherwise referred to as medical malpractice, this failure to meet their duty of care may result in a patient getting seriously injured or otherwise incurring serious damages.
What are the most commonly seen medical misconduct accusations in New York State?
It does not matter if you willingly or mistakenly committed medical misconduct. Your patient, colleague, or employer may still hold the right to report you to the New York State Department of Health’s Office of Professional Medical Conduct (OPMC) or Office of Professional Discipline (OPD).
Overall, you will never want to interact with these medical boards at any point in your long career. This is because they may impose the ultimate punishment on you, which is revoking your license to practice permanently. With all these things considered, below are the most commonly seen medical misconduct accusations that you must avoid being the made the subject of:
- Being accused of abandoning, neglecting, or refusing to treat a patient because of their protected class (i.e., race, color, national origin, religion, etc).
- Being accused of exercising undue influence on a patient for your financial gain (i.e., selling certain medical services, devices, or drugs).
- Being accused of improperly billing your patients for your financial gain (i.e., charging for deductibles or copays they are exempt from).
- Being accused of practicing while you are under the influence of drugs or alcohol or struggling with a mental health issue.
- Being accused of revealing a patient’s private medical records with a third party (i.e., HIPAA violation).
- Being accused of practicing in a field of medicine you are properly licensed or trained in.
In conclusion, you cannot enter your medical misconduct claim proceedings without first retaining legal representation from one of the competent New York physician defense lawyers. Contact our firm, Walker Medical Law, today.
