The New York State Department of Health’s Office of Professional Medical Conduct (OPMC) is in charge of investigating complaints against physicians and other healthcare professionals actively practicing in the state. The Board receives thousands of complaints yearly, and takes disciplinary actions against hundreds of these professionals. With all that being said, you may know it is never a good thing to have a letter addressed to you by the OPMC, as nothing good or positive may be coming your way. So, please read on to discover what to expect from an OPMC investigation and how one of the seasoned New York health care professional defense lawyers at Walker Medical Law can help you be adequately equipped to take on this process.
What should I expect from an OPMC or OPD investigation?
First of all, the OPMC has adopted a procedure that filters out any complaints that lack foundation or are based on issues outside of their immediate jurisdiction. Hopefully a complaint written about you does not make it through this screening. But if it unfortunately does, the OPMC may soon after assign an investigator to look further into your possible medical misconduct issue. From here, the process goes as follows:
- You may be expected to submit to an interview over the phone or in-person, possibly along with your colleagues, employer, and other involved parties.
- You may be expected to submit any records relevant to the alleged medical misconduct issue at hand, as requested by the investigator of your case.
- You may be expected to stand in front of an OPMC hearing committee and offer your oral testimony, introduce evidence, call on witnesses, etc.
- You may be expected to comply with the committee’s ruling on your case (i.e., accept their non-disciplinary warnings or pay their penalties).
- You may expect the final disciplinary action against you to be made public information, unless it is closed, dismissed, or still ongoing.
What other actions can I expect to be taken against me?
It is worth mentioning that your place of work or employer may have their own standard operating procedure for how they handle medical misconduct complaints. This is to say that you may have to undergo investigation proceedings conducted by your employer in addition to that of the OPMC. Further, in the end, you may face double the amount of penalties and consequences.
In turn, say a former patient of yours filed this initial medical misconduct complaint. Well, they may also hold the right to file a civil lawsuit against you. This is if your act of misconduct directly led to their incurrence of bodily injuries, economic damages, and non-economic damages. If they are successful in their case against you, the court may order you to pay compensatory damages and more.
To conclude, if you require additional consulting, look no further than one of the competent New York health care professional defense lawyers from Walker Medical Law. Schedule your initial consultation with us today.
