Tag Archive

In 2020, California suffered a legislative quake—one that shook the legal foundation of whether workers are classified as employees or independent contractors.  Effective January 1, 2020, Assembly Bill 5 imposed a strict new test which results in most work relationships being those of employer-employee and not independent contractor.  The law applies to all workers in California, with the exception of … Read More

According to the California Department of Consumer Affairs, a new fraud scheme aimed at licensees of the state, including the Medical and Osteopathic Boards of California, is making the rounds. Callers pretend to be Board investigators, threaten arrest or suspension of a medical license, and then demand money to resolve the matter.  Don’t fall for this! And, for those of … Read More

The California Medical Board (“Board”) published its year in review for 2018-2019.  The entire report can be found here(link is external). Of interest, the Board’s administrative actions against licensees have increased since last year, and the numbers of disciplinary outcomes—revocations and probations—has increased.  And, even though the vertical enforcement model ended on January 1, 2019, the model is still used in … Read More

The Medicare Open Enrollment Period is an annual period of time (ending December 7) when Medicare users decide whether to keep their coverage or go with another plan.  It is also a time of increased scams directed at seniors, aimed at getting personal and billing information from seniors.  Please gently remind the seniors in your life not to provide Medicare … Read More

It is now the law in California that all health care facilities and “other entities” report any written allegations of sexual abuse or misconduct, made by a patient, against a licensee within 15 days of receiving the complaint. The new law, which responds to USC’s gynecological patient scandal, began as Senate Bill 425 in the 2019 – 2020 legislative year, … Read More

Recently, the Medical Board of California reported on the efficacy of its self-styled “death certificate project.”  As you’ve likely heard, the Medical Board’s project uses California data regarding deaths to identify physicians associated with opioid prescriptions to deceased patients.  The Medical Board’s purpose is to investigate whether physicians violated the law.  Since its inception, 23% of the Medical Board’s death … Read More

Last week, the Medical Board of California warned its licensees of a telephone scam in which people posing as DEA agents telephone California physicians and demand money to address investigations into prescribing practices.  If you receive such a call, please immediately report the scam to the DEA using its Extortion Scam Online Reporting form, which can be found here: DEA Scam … Read More

SB 1448 (authored by Senator Hill) was signed into law by Governor Jerry Brown on September 19, 2018.  The new law, effective July 2019, requires physicians who are on probation with a licensing agency, such as the Medical and Osteopathic Boards of California, to provide patients with a disclosure prior to a patient’s first visit.  The disclosure must be in … Read More

This legislative session resulted in changes to California’s Optometry Practice Act, which regulates the practice of optometry.  New law in the form of signed and enrolled AB 443 means that California optometrists can now provide habilitative optometric services, use therapeutic pharmaceutical agents for certain purposes, perform intravenous injection for the purpose of performing ocular angiography under limited circumstances, and treat … Read More

California’s Business and Professions Code requires that Physician Assistants report only (1) the bringing of an indictment or information that charges the Physician Assistant with a felony and/or (2) the conviction of the Physician Assistant, including any verdict of guilty or plea of no contest, of any felony or misdemeanor.  While that should seem simple enough, there is a regulation … Read More