complaint investigation defense attorney for health care professionals

Finding a Lawyer Who Takes CPH & Associates Insurance

By George F. Indest III, J.D., M.P.A., LL.M., Board Certified by The Florida Bar in Health Law

Our firm often gets calls from nurses and other health professionals who retain us to represent them in complaints against their licenses or in professional licensing complaints and investigations. This includes investigation letters from the Florida Department of Health (DOH), D.C. Health or Louisiana State Board. It also includes notices of hearing, administrative complaints, proposed Consent Orders, emergency restriction orders (EROs), and emergency suspension orders (ESOs). In many cases they had good insurance coverage with CPH & Associates (CPH&A) Insurance, but could not find an attorneys that accepted it or forgot that they had coverage.

Often adverse disciplinary action has already been taken against these nurses. They retain us to appeal or attempt to reverse an adverse disciplinary action against their license, including license revocations.

However, finding legal counsel accepting your liability insurance should not be difficult. Our firm and its attorneys have accepted CPH&A Insurance, and many others, for years.

Do Not Skimp On Insurance Coverage!

If you have good insurance, it will pay for your legal expenses from the very beginning, so use it. However, beware of cheap insurance policies from professional associations that don’t cover disciplinary complaints and licensure investigations. Always check to be sure this is covered. Get it in writing.

Find and Contact an Experienced Health Law Attorney.

You should immediately contact an experienced health law attorney if you are telephoned or visited by any investigator. Or, if you receive a letter advising you that an investigation has been opened regarding your care. Call immediately for advice before you speak with an investigator or provide any documents or statements.

You cannot and should not seek “legal advice” on what to do from the investigator, a DOH employee, your professional board, or any attorney representing any of them. They are not your friends. They are not on your side. Therefore, it would be best if you did not take their advice.

Contact Health Law Attorneys Experienced in Representing Nurses.

The Health Law Firm’s attorneys routinely represent nurses in Board of Nursing investigations and complaints, and Department of Health (DOH) investigations and complaints. We appear before the Board of Nursing in licensing matters and in many other legal matters. We represent nurses across the U.S., not just in Florida, Louisiana, Colorado, and Washington, D.C.

To contact The Health Law Firm, please call (407) 331-6620 or Toll-free (888) 331-6620 and visit our website at www.TheHealthLawFirm.com.

About the Author: George F. Indest III, J.D., M.P.A., LL.M., is Board Certified by The Florida Bar in Health Law. He is the President and Managing Partner of The Health Law Firm, which has a national practice. Its main office is in Orlando, Florida, area. www.TheHealthLawFirm.com The Health Law Firm, 1101 Douglas Ave., Suite 1000, Altamonte Springs, FL 32714, Phone: (407) 331-6620 or Toll-Free: (888) 331-6620.

Current Open Positions with The Health Law Firm. The Health Law Firm always seeks qualified individuals interested in health law. Its main office is in the Orlando, Florida, area. If you are a current member of The Florida Bar or a qualified professional who is interested, please forward a cover letter and resume to: PAlexander@TheHealthLawFirm.com or fax them to (407) 331-3030.

“The Health Law Firm” is a registered fictitious business name of and a registered service mark of The Health Law Firm, P.A., a Florida professional service corporation, since 1999.
Copyright © 2023 The Health Law Firm. All rights reserved.

Doctors, Nurses and Health Care Professionals Take Heed: It is Always a Bad Idea to . . . .

By George F. Indest III, J.D., M.P.A., LL.M., Board Certified by The Florida Bar in Health Law

In my 30 plus years of practice representing physicians, dentists, nurses and health care professionals, I have defended clients involved in many different situations. Several of these seem to be problem areas which we see repeatedly. The following is a list of those problems which it would seem to be common sense for a physician or other health care professional to avoid doing.

I can assure you, it is always a bad idea for a physician or other health care professional to:

1. Write a prescription for any medication for yourself.

2. Start a romantic relationship with a patient.

3. Take someone else’s prescription medication, ever.

4. Write a prescription for or treat a patient, especially a family member, for a condition outside the scope of her specialty (e.g., a dentist prescribing antibiotics to her children to treat a cold; a pediatrician prescribing pain medications for an adult; a dentist writing a prescription for pain medications for a patient’s back pain; an OB/GYN prescribing antidepressants for a male; podiatrist writing prescriptions for narcotics to treat back pain).
5. Write any prescription for or treat any patient who is in another state when the physician or health professional is not licensed in that state.

6. Treat or prescribe for any spouse, other family member, friend or colleague, without opening a medical record and fully documenting the treatment or prescription, as you would for any other patient.

7. Hire a patient to work for you in your office or, especially, allow a patient to “volunteer” to work in your office.

8. Pre-sign blank prescriptions for your physician assistant, ARNP, medical assistant, nurse, receptionist, or anyone else, to complete later, or have pre-signed blank prescriptions in your office.

9. Seek psychotherapy or drug/alcohol abuse treatment with a physician or health professional in your own medical group, institution or the staff of your own hospital.

10. Add to, alter or change any medical/dental record entry after you know there may be a claim, investigation or litigation involving it.

11. For a mental health professional (psychiatrist, psychologist, mental health counselor, social worker, psychiatric nurse practitioner) to have any type of social relationship with a current patient.

12. Take and use your own drug samples provided by pharmaceutical companies.

13. Go into a hospital where you do not have clinical privileges and treat or “assist” in treating a patient there, even if it is your own patient.

14. Have a sexual relationship ( including “sexting” or “telephone sex”) with a patient or patient’s immediate family member.

These are actual examples from cases in which I have had to represent licensed health professionals in defending their licenses and attempting to keep their jobs. For each of the above, there have been more than one.

Avoid doing these things and you will be avoiding some of the major actions including charges and an investigation by your state licensing board, the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), your national certification board, any facility at which you have privileges and other law enforcement agencies.

For more information on things that could be harmful to your professional license, click here to read one of my prior blogs.

To learn more about how The Health Law Firm can assist you, click here to visit our website’s areas of practice page.

Click here to view a powerpoint presentation from a previous lecture on how to protect your license.

Contact Health Law Attorneys Experienced with Investigations of Health Professionals and Providers.

The attorneys of The Health Law Firm provide legal representation to physicians, nurses, nurse practitioners, CRNAs, dentists, pharmacists, psychologists and other health providers in Department of Health (DOH) investigations, Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) investigations, FBI investigations, Medicare investigations, Medicaid investigations and other types of investigations of health professionals and providers.

To contact The Health Law Firm, please call (407) 331-6620 or (850) 439-1001 and visit our website at www.TheHealthLawFirm.com.
About the Author: George F. Indest III, J.D., M.P.A., LL.M., is Board Certified by The Florida Bar in Health Law. He is the President and Managing Partner of The Health Law Firm, which has a national practice. Its main office is in the Orlando, Florida, area. www.TheHealthLawFirm.com The Health Law Firm, 1101 Douglas Ave., Altamonte Springs, FL 32714, Phone: (407) 331-6620.

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“The Health Law Firm” is a registered fictitious business name of and a registered service mark of The Health Law Firm, P.A., a Florida professional service corporation, since 1999.Copyright © 2018 The Health Law Firm. All rights reserved.

It is Always a Bad Idea for a Doctor, Nurse or Health Professional to . . . .

By George F. Indest III, J.D., M.P.A., LL.M., Board Certified by The Florida Bar in Health Law

My experience in representing doctors, nurses and other licensed health professionals in disciplinary cases has lead me to conclude, us to conclude, its is always a bad idea for them to:

1. Write a prescription for any medication for yourself.

2. Start a romantic relationship with a patient.

3. Take someone else’s prescription medication, ever.

4. Write a prescription for or treat a patient, especially a family member, for a condition outside the scope of his specialty (e.g., a dentist prescribing antibiotics to her children to treat a cold; a pediatrician prescribing pain medications for an adult; a dentist writing a prescription for pain medications for a patient’s back paid; an OB/GYN prescribing antidepressants for a male).

5. Write any prescription for or treat any patient who is in another state when the physician is not licensed in that state.

6. Treat or prescribe for any spouse, other family member, friend or colleague, without opening a medical record and fully documenting the treatment or prescription, as you would for any other patient.

7. Hire a patient to work for you in your office or, especially, allow a patient to “volunteer” to work in your office.

8. Pre-sign blank prescriptions for your Physician Assistant, ARNP, Medical Assistant, receptionist, or anyone else, to complete later, or have pre-signed blank prescriptions in your office.

9. Seek psychotherapy or drug/alcohol abuse treatment with a physician or HCP health professional in your own medical group, institution or the staff of your own hospital.

10. Add to, alter or change any medical/dental record entry after you know there may be a claim, investigation or litigation involving it.

11. For a mental health professional (psychiatrist, psychologist, mental health counselor, social worker, psychiatric nurse practitioner) to have any type of social relationship with a current patient.

12. Take and use your own drug samples provided by pharmaceutical companies.

13. Go into a hospital where you do not have clinical privileges and treat or “assist” in treating a patient there, even if it is your own patient.

14. Have a sexual relationship ( including “sexting” or “telephone sex”) with a patient or patient’s immediate family member.

These are actual examples from cases in which I have had to represent licensed health professionals in defending their licenses and attempting to keep their jobs. For each of the above, there have been more than one.

Contact Experienced Health Law Attorneys.

The Health Law Firm routinely represents physicians, nurses and other health providers in investigations, regulatory matters, licensing issues, litigation, inspections and audits involving the DEA, Department of Health (DOH) and other law enforcement agencies. Its attorneys include those who are board certified by The Florida Bar in Health Law as well as licensed health professionals who are also attorneys. We represent medical students, interns, residents, and fellows in disputes with their graduate medical education (GME) programs. We represent clinical professors and instructors in contract disputes, employment disputes, clinical privileges matters and other disputes with their employers. We often act as the physician’s personal counsel in medical malpractice litigation.

To contact The Health Law Firm, please call (407) 331-6620 or (850) 439-1001 and visit our website at www.TheHealthLawFirm.com

About the Author: George F. Indest III, J.D., M.P.A., LL.M., Board Certified by The Florida Bar in Health Law is an attorney with The Health Law Firm, which has a national practice. Its main office is in the Orlando, Florida, area. www.TheHealthLawFirm.com The Health Law Firm, 1101 Douglas Avenue, Altamonte Springs, Florida 32714, Phone: (407) 331-6620.

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“The Health Law Firm” is a registered fictitious business name of and a registered service mark of The Health Law Firm, P.A., a Florida professional service corporation, since 1999.
Copyright © 2017 The Health Law Firm. All rights reserved.