Answering Medical Law Questions For Doctors And Other Professionals

If you are a doctor, nurse or another medical professional, you are trained and educated to be a medical expert, not a legal expert. However, your professional license and career will be in constant danger without the help of a knowledgeable, experienced legal advocate on your side.

At The Sloan Firm, PLLC, you will find attorney Eric Sloan. He has 20 years of legal experience, and he handles a range of legal matters for medical professionals. Serving clients throughout both Florida and Idaho, Mr. Sloan is an invaluable asset to medical providers and facilities. He can answer your questions, help you avoid legal problems and, when legal disputes or lawsuits arise, provide effective dispute resolution and litigation services.

What should I do if I received a letter of complaint?

Of course, the first thing you should do is contact an attorney, someone who has experience handling license defense cases for medical professionals. If you have never been through the process of defending your license against an ethics or negligence complaint, the process can be intimidating.

Generally, the broad strokes of the process are:

• Answering the complaint
• Investigation
• Hearing(s)
• Possible settlement
• Resolution

Every case is different, so it is important to have an experienced lawyer working with you through every one of these steps.

What is a nondisciplinary citation?

The board of some medical disciplines has the authority to send these citations for minor infractions like being late in renewing your license or taking your continuing education courses. These minor infractions are not unlike traffic violations in a criminal law context. Simply paying the small fine and correcting the error will solve the problem, and nothing will stay on your permanent record.

What if a claim against my license is from an event that happened a long time ago?

The good news is that there is a statute of limitations on most claims against a medical professional’s license. In Florida, for example, there are numerous statutes of limitations for complaints against medical licenses, depending on the nature of the complaint and other factors. Generally, the time limit is six years, but it can be up to 12 years for complaints in which concealment of facts or fraud prevented the victim from discovering the alleged misconduct. Further, if the complaint involves criminal actions or sexual misconduct, there is no statute of limitations.

What can I do to avoid malpractice claims and other problems?

The most important thing you can do to avoid misconduct claims is to work with an attorney who can help you understand potential pitfalls and avoid them. Problems can arise for medical professionals in everything from their advertising to their scheduling policies. An experienced lawyer like Eric Sloan can provide sound counsel to help you avoid complaints that could cost you your career.

Contact The Sloan Firm, PLLC

Talk with attorney Eric Sloan about how he can help protect your medical license. Call 386-760-3232 or email the firm today.