California Professional License Defense Blog

Our Orange County, CA law firm handles both criminal defense and professional license defense cases. What makes sense about hiring a firm such as ours is the ability of a criminal defense firm to promote clients interests at the outset of a case. This means meeting with the District Attorney before they file a case and advocating our position in the hopes of encouraging them not to file charges or file reduced charges. Often times, when a person gets arrested the arresting officer does not get the entire picture of the case or what took place. It is our job to gather all the facts quickly and present them to the DA so when they review the case, they do so with both side and not just the police reports.

Whether defending lawyer, doctors, financial professionals, teachers or contractors, the best defense is an early defense. Keep in mind, most professions licensed by the State of California have disclosure requirements. Unless you are familiar with these requirements and the law, you need to hire an attorney. If not, and your license is revoked, it almost impossible to get it reinstated.

Failure to disclose an arrest or conviction in a timely manner could cause a physician to lose their right to practice medicine. The California Medical Board views the non-disclosure of an arrest or conviction in ANY state, not just California a major breach of ethics and professional conduct.

California Business and Professions Code§ 802.1, says, a licensee must report the following:
1. The bringing of an indictment or information charging a felony against the licensee. OR
2. The conviction of the licensee, including any verdict of guilty, or plea of guilty or no contest, of any felony or misdemeanor.

The “bringing of an indictment or information” simply means the District Attorney’s Office has filed felony criminal charges against the physicians. This doesn’t require a plea of guilty, just the filing of the charges. For misdemeanors, physicians do not need to report the arrest, unless the physician goes on to plead guilty to a misdemeanor or felony.
Once either of these two scenarios occurs, a physician has 30 days to notify the board.

Criminal law is such that certain offense can be charged only as felonies and some only as misdemeanors. However, there are a number of crimes that can be charged either as felonies or misdemeanors. This means, any physician who has been arrested or investigated for a crime anywhere in California should contact a criminal defense attorney who also defends professional licenses.

Pilchman and Kay, PLC, located in Orange County, California invites you to contact our firm for a free consultation. We handle cases in all Southern California cities on the state and federal level including Medical Board of California cases.

Our Orange County, Ca law firm receives a lot of calls from physicians in Orange County, Los Angeles County, Riverside County, San Bernardino County and San Diego County who have either been arrested for a crime or have been convicted of a crime. The number one question is how their criminal case will effect their medical license and what actions the California Medical Board can take. So, it is worth mentioning again.

Physicians, like anybody, are susceptible to committing crimes including; DUI, Fraud, Illegally Prescribing Meds, Drug Possession and Domestic Violence, just to name a few. Each case is different and the Board reviews cases on an individual basis. They will review police reports and any supplemental material to determine if there is an underlying cause for the conduct such as alcohol abuse and DUI’s or financial difficulties and theft or fraud charges. They will also assess whether the physician is unfit or unworthy of a California Medical License.

The Board conducts their own investigation and may learn information that was not available or known at the criminal stages. This could mean office staff, nurses and colleagues are interviewed. This could mean random drug testing. This could mean taking business records from medical offices. As you can see, the discovery of incriminating evidence that can be used against you and your license is huge. It is critical that a medical license defense attorney is consulted during this process as it could mean the difference between keeping your license and losing your license. In fact, if a physician is arrested or being investigated by law enforcement for a crime, I would recommend hiring a criminal defense attorney in Southern California who also handles medical license defense cases. This would ensure both the physician and the medical license are protected at the earliest stages of the case.

Pilchman and Kay, PLC is an Orange County based criminal defense and professional license defense firm. We handle state, federal and medical board cases in Orange County, Los Angeles County, Riverside County, San Diego County and San Bernardino County. We welcome you to call us for a free consultation regarding any medical license or criminal defense case.

Physicians may encounter situations where a patient, employee or another physician illegally uses their DEA number to secure prescription medication either over the phone or by stealing a blank prescription form. The unlawful use of a physicians DEA number has SEVERE consequences to those who commit the theft, but it also may have SEVERE consequences for the doctor. Like the old saying goes, an “ounce of prevention is worth a pound of security.”
The California Health and Safety Code specifically address these issues in Health and Safety Code Section 11368. It states that anyone who forges or alters a prescription or who obtains any narcotic drug by a forged, fictitious, or altered prescription may be punished by imprisonment in the county jail or state prison for not less than six months or more than one year. Since prescription forgery is considered a criminal offense, it is recommended that a report be made to the local law enforcement.

In addition, Federal law requires physicians to report all theft or loss of controlled substances and official Federal Order Forms (Form 222) to a regional office of the Drug Enforcement Administration. The DEA has offices located in Los Angeles, San Diego and San Francisco. Go to http://www.deadiversion.usdoj.gov/online_forms.htm to download all the necessary forms so you will not find yourself in a criminal court or worse, Federal court.

Keep in mind, neither the Medical Board nor state law requires physicians to report stolen or illegal use of a physicians DEA number however, it is suggested that all doctors who encounter this issue should send the Board a letter to have on file just in case. This letter should be a brief description of how the DEA number was compromised and what precautions the physician is taking to prevent further losses or thefts.

If you are questioned by the California Medical Board or the DEA regarding the unlawful use of your DEA number, it is important to hire an experienced professional license defense attorney to protect you from the potential loss of your license or criminal prosecution. Our Southern California criminal defense firm located in Orange County, California has been defending physicians all over California.