Occasionally my daily review of Commonwealth Court decisions discussing professional licensing board cases reveal remarkable decisions. This happened again this week. I came across a decision discussing a professional who chose to represent himself. Unfortunately, the...
Year: 2015
Drugs and the Mental and Physical Evaluation – The Assessment Trick
I have been overrun by client consultations, new cases, and handling existing cases involving Pennsylvania licensing board's Petitions for Mental and Physical evaluations. I attend almost every one of these with my clients. Two consistent fact patterns that...
Interstate Medical Licensure Compact Act — Pennsylvania’s Ill Drafted Version
Today our country's geographically diverse population seeks competent medical care in their small outlying communities. This prompting hospital administrators to investigate different ways to reach all of their potential constituents. The Affordable Care Act, by...
Federal Sentencing Issues: Calculation of Loss — Great Decision
On September 30, 2015, the Third Circuit decided United States v. Nagle, 2015 U.S. App. LEXIS 17187. Joseph Nagle and Ernest Fink appealed the District Court's calculation of loss from which their lengthy prison sentences were derived. For federal sentencing fanatics,...
ALL NURSES MUST REPORT CRIMINAL CHARGES FILED AGAINST THEM WITHIN 30 DAYS OF ARREST.
Effective October 17, 2015 The Pennsylvania Nursing Board rules now require all Pennsylvania licensed RNs, LPNs, CRNPs, LDNs, and CNSs to report being charged with any misdemeanor or felony criminal charge, regardless of which jurisdiction the charges originate. The...
Pennsylvania Drug Act Convictions and Collateral Consequent Automatic Suspensions
The complexities of representing licensed professionals in criminal matters always surprises me even though I have handled complex federal and state criminal matters for over twenty years. To effectively represent the licensed practitioner in a criminal case counsel...
Tricks and Traps of the Administrative Law Process
My administrative law practice reaches most of Pennsylvania's 26 licensing boards. Of the several veterinarians that I represent, professional misconduct allegations typically focus on incompetence, record keeping, professional conduct, and standard of care issues....
PHMP TRICKS and TRAPS
The tricks and traps of the PHMP/PMP are extensive. Traps include compliance with professional boards' legal conditions for reinstatement of which PNAP and PHMP caseworkers do not advise non-working program participants. One recent trick a PNAP case worker...
DUI and ARD and The Letter of Concern — The PHMP Trap
What should a licensed professional do when charged for the first time with driving under the influence - DUI. As a first time offense in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, one is eligible for the pretrial probation, ARD program. This a great program that, upon...
Your IPAD and Text Communications…No Expectation of Privacy…Sanctioned Police Conduct
This blog addresses a significant development in Pennsylvania Court's judicial approval of a new police investigation method involving iPads and text communications. The recent case of Commonwealth v Diego, reviewed and sanctioned police departments ease dropping on a...