As a practicing physician in New York State, you should know by now that your medical license is set to expire every two years, at the end of the month before your birthday. Further, this license renewal does not happen automatically, but it is rather something you must take active steps toward initiating. If you are caught working while carrying an expired medical license, even for just one day, you may land in serious trouble. With that being said, please read on to discover the consequences of practicing with an expired medical license and how one of the seasoned New York physician defense lawyers at Walker Medical Law can help you avoid any such complications in your career.
What are the consequences of practicing with an expired medical license?
First and foremost, you should not practice with an expired medical license for the sake of your patient’s safety. This is because an expired license may indicate that you are not necessarily “up-to-date” on the latest medical studies in your specific field. This may translate into a failure to prescribe your patients with the most successfully researched and qualified treatment plan. So, if one of your patients gets hurt at a time when you are carrying an expired medical license, they may even pursue a civil lawsuit against you.
Secondly, and similarly critically, you should not practice with an expired medical license and risk getting in trouble with the New York State Department of Health’s Office of Professional Medical Conduct (OPMC). This is because doing so is technically considered a violation of federal and state medical practice laws. In turn, the OPMC may impose harsh penalties onto you, such as mandatory attendance at continuing medical education (CME) courses; temporary suspension or permanent revocation of your medical license; hefty fines and fees; and even time spent away in jail.
What do I need to do to reinstate my expired medical license?
To avoid this whole mess as described above, you should take the initiative of applying for a medical license renewal well before its expiration date. Ideally, you should kickstart this process around five months before your license is set to expire. This may entail submitting a relicensing application online with the New York State Education Department Office of the Professions. With this, you must also be prepared to pay the renewal fee of $600. That is, have a valid credit card handy for this transaction. On the bright side, though, you may not need to complete additional CME hours at this time. However, the same cannot be said for other kinds of healthcare professionals.
To better understand your legal rights in the matter at hand, please seek the advisement of one of the sound and competent New York physician defense lawyers. Please feel confident in knowing that our team at Walker Medical Law has significant experience in handling legal cases just like yours. So call us today.
