As a physician, you may have a lot of worries running through your head throughout your daily practice. You may also have to worry about the New York State Department of Health’s Office of Professional Medical Conduct (OPMC) or Office of Professional Discipline (OPD) looking over your shoulder. Read on to discover what happens if you fail to uphold your responsibilities as a physician and how one of the seasoned OPMC/OPD misconduct defense lawyers at Walker Medical Law can help rectify your situation.
What duties am I expected to uphold as a physician?
As you may already be aware, the medical community sets a standard for ethical and professional conduct that all physicians must work towards meeting. Therefore, you may hold the duty of self-regulating how you are handling yourself in your professional practice. More specific examples of this duty read as follows:
- You may hold the duty of practicing fairness and respect with medical trainees and patients.
- You may hold the duty of maintaining your health and wellness before you offer care to patients.
- You may hold the duty of placing serious sexual boundaries with patients and key third parties to the patients.
- You may hold the duty of fulfilling your professional commitment to lifelong learning and attending continuing medical education (CME) courses.
You must also understand that, under New York State’s Medical Conduct Program, you may hold the duty of reporting a colleague if their professional practice falls below the set standard of care. This is because a failure to report a suspected instance of medical misconduct is considered, in and of itself, medical misconduct.
What happens if I fail at my responsibilities as a physician?
If you fail to uphold any of the standards of care mentioned above, you may be considered as having breached your duty. This may subsequently open up the opportunity for current and former patients, colleagues, employers, etc. to report you to the OPMC or OPD. With this, an investigation may ensue, a hearing may be scheduled, and a set of penalties may be inflicted on you. The ultimate consequence may be the temporary suspension or permanent revocation of your medical license.
In addition to a complaint being filed with the OPMC or OPD, a medical malpractice claim may also be filed with the New York civil court system. With this, you may have to pay for attorney fees, court fees, and other legal fees if the case cannot be settled and instead gets litigated. The ultimate consequence may be having to pay for the plaintiff’s economic damages, non-economic, and maybe even punitive damages.
You must not stand idly by if you are being wrongly accused of medical misconduct. Rather, you must retain the services of one of the competent OPMC/OPD misconduct defense lawyers. Contact Walker Medical Law today.
