Notice of Investigation and Administrative Complaint
HEALTHCARE LICENSING
The Most Important Things You Need to Know
IMPORTANT! If you are a health care professional and you’ve received a Notice of Investigation or an Administrative Complaint from the Department of Health or your licensing board (for example, the Board of Nursing or Board of Medicine):
- 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!
Nurse-Attorney Marjorie Chalfant has litigated medical/legal cases for over 30 years. In addition to being an experienced trial attorney, Marjorie Chalfant is a retired Registered Nurse with extensive hands-on nursing experience in hospital Intensive Care Units and Emergency Rooms for over 13 years.
The Nurse Attorney, PLLC law firm only handles healthcare licensing and medical malpractice cases.
Unfortunately, many healthcare licensing lawyers are unwilling or unable to go to court to litigate cases filed against their clients, and they will often try to get cases settled without fighting for their client’s rights; however, that approach is not always in their client’s best interests.
Nurse-Attorney Marjorie Chalfant is an experienced and successful trial attorney who litigates healthcare licensing cases in courts of law.
Here are the 2 most important things you must know in defending your healthcare license:
- You should never deal with a Department of Health investigator without an attorney; and
- 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 think that if you cooperate with the investigator, explain the situation, and provide the documents the Board or Department requests, you can convince the investigator that you haven’t done anything wrong. This is a huge mistake! Although the investigator may seem nice, the investigator is NOT your friend or ally!
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 experienced healthcare licensing attorney to represent you!
The Administrative Procedure Act governs healthcare licensing cases, and specific Administrative Codes and Statutes determine the procedure and process that must be followed.
Healthcare licensing cases are complex. 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 licensing cases is cooperating with the investigator without an attorney.
Cooperating with the investigator without an attorney may seem harmless, but the investigator is not your friend. Department investigators are often friendly and appear to be trying to help you. But beware – their job is not to help you but to gather evidence to justify a formal disciplinary action against you.
A Department investigator’s role is similar to an undercover agent in a criminal case: they quietly gather enough incriminating evidence 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 is 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 an Election of Rights form is not correctly filed on time, you automatically waive your right to due process and waive your right to a hearing or trial 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 being investigated or disciplined by the Licensing 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 licensing Boards vote to revoke a healthcare professional’s license on the spot at a Board meeting without a hearing in a court of law and the right to due process. Unfortunately, it’s usually too late to save a professional’s license when that happens.
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!
Hiring an attorney willing to fight for your right to keep your healthcare license is vitally important!