Here are the 2 most important things you must know in defending your healthcare license:

1. You should never deal with the investigator without an attorney; and
2. You must file the Election of Rights form within 21 days of receiving an Administrative Complaint to dispute the charges and request a formal hearing.

You might be thinking that if you just cooperate with the investigator and explain the situation, and if you just provide the documents the Board or Department is requesting, you’ll be able to convince the investigator that you haven’t done anything wrong.  This is a huge mistake!

You’ve worked too hard to earn your license, and your license is too important to risk losing it by trying to represent yourself.  Whether you hire The Nurse Attorney, PLLC or some other law firm, the bottom line is that you must absolutely hire an attorney to represent you!

With healthcare licensing cases, there are a lot of procedural pitfalls.  If you make a misstep along the way, you could lose your license regardless of the merits of your case.

The most common mistake in healthcare license cases:  cooperating with the investigator without an attorney.

It may seem like a harmless thing to cooperate with the investigator without an attorney, but the investigator is not your friend.  Department investigators are often friendly and appear as if they’re trying to help you out.  But be aware – they’re job is not to help you, but rather, to gather evidence to justify a formal disciplinary action against you.  A Department investigator’s role is analogous to an undercover agent: gathering enough incriminating evidence to make an arrest so a prosecutor can prove criminal charges.  Don’t try to defend yourself without an attorney!  Just like criminal law, what you say and do will be used against you.

The most serious mistake in healthcare license cases:  not filing the Election of Rights form in time.

The most serious mistake that can happen in healthcare license cases is not filing the Election of Rights form within 21 days of receiving an Administrative Complaint.  If this form is not properly filed on time, you automatically waive your right to due process and you waive your right to a hearing with a judge.  When this happens the fate of your license is left to the Licensing Board, not a judge in a court of law.

All licensed healthcare professionals are entitled to due process under the law, which means all licensed healthcare professionals who are being investigated or disciplined by the Board or Department of Health have the right to a hearing or trial in a court of law with a judge, before their license is taken away.  However, that right might be waived without even knowing it.

Nurse-Attorney Marjorie Chalfant has witnessed the Board take a vote to revoke a healthcare professional’s license right there on the spot at a Board meeting, without a hearing in a court of law, and without the right to due process.  If that happens, it’s too late.

If you or someone you know is under investigation by a licensing Board or are being disciplined by the Department of Health, it’s critically important that you hire an attorney to represent you.  Do not communicate with anyone from the Board or Department of Health without an attorney.  Do not go to a Board hearing without an attorney.

It’s also important to hire an attorney who is willing to fight for your right to keep your healthcare license!

What most lawyers DON’T KNOW, a Nurse Attorney DOES!

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