doh | The Health Law Firm Blog

Massage Therapists Need Good Professional Liability Insurance with Broad Coverage

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

Whether you’re an independent contractor, an employee of a chiropractor, physician or spa, or you travel to clients’ homes, insurance is essential for all massage therapists. Not only can professional liability insurance protect you in the event of a lawsuit, but it may also pay your legal defenses in the event of a complaint against your license to practice or for other legal problems. In Florida, it is not mandatory for a massage therapist to have professional liability insurance. However, since it is so cheap, we always recommend buying coverage. It’s a small price to pay to protect your livelihood. But be sure it covers investigation of your license.

It is now common to be able to find professional liability insurance […]

Please, Please, Please Do NOT Talk to the Department of Health (DOH) Investigator

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

Whether you are a psychiatrist, psychologist, licensed clinical social worker, or another type of mental health professional, I beseech you: please do not talk to a Department of Health (DOH) investigator until you have talked to a health lawyer who is experienced with DOH investigations and board licensing complaints. Do not answer or respond to even the most basic questions about where you work now, what your address is or if you know patient x, until consulting with counsel.

Admitting to the Simplest Facts May Harm You.

We are routinely consulted by mental health professionals and other healthcare providers for representation after they have discussed the case and after it is too late to undo the damage they have caused to themselves. Often they do not understand the […]

By The Health Law Firm|2024-03-14T10:01:49-04:00May 15, 2018|Categories: Clinical Social Worker, Intern, Marital and Family Therapist, Mental Health Counselor, Mental Health Counselor Law, Mental Health Law Blog, Psychology, Resident|Tags: administrative complaint, Administrative Hearing, administrative licensure investigation, Agency for Health Care Administration (AHCA) surveyors, board licensing complaint, department of health, doh, Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) agents, FBI agents, investigation, investigator, licensure defense, Medicaid Fraud Control Unit (MFCU) investigators, OIG special agents|Comments Off

Out-of-State Compounding Pharmacies May Need a Permit To Do Business in Florida

By Lance O. Leider, J.D., The Health Law Firm

Beginning on October 1, 2014, out-of-state compounding pharmacies may be required to hold a compounded sterile product permit. That’s because the Regulated Industries Committee of the Florida Senate voted on March 13, 2014, to approve a bill increasing the restrictions on out-of-state compounding pharmacies that ship medications into Florida. These increased regulations would apply to around 300 compounding pharmacies shipping medicine to Florida.

The bill was introduced to increase standards for compounding pharmacies that create medications that are tailored to the needs of individual patients. Currently the bill is out for reference review. Considering that this is a hot issue in Florida and nationally, we expect the bill to pass.

Click here to read the entire bill.

Requirements Under the New Bill.

The bill requires out-of-state compounding pharmacies to hold a compounded […]

By The Health Law Firm|2024-03-14T10:01:16-04:00May 15, 2018|Categories: Compounding pharmacy, Florida Board of Pharmacy, Pharmacy, Pharmacy Law|Tags: 2014 Florida legislature, compounded medications, compounding pharmacy, compounding pharmacy permit, defense attorney, defense lawyer, department of health, doh, drug recall, Florida compounding pharmacy, florida department of health, Florida legislature, Florida pharmacist, Florida pharmacy, health law firm, licensing issues, out-of-state compounding pharmacy permit, permit to ship to Florida, pharmacies, pharmacist, pharmacist attorney, pharmacist lawyer, pharmacists, pharmacy, pharmacy attorney, pharmacy compounding sterile products, the health law firm|Comments Off

Do Not Voluntarily Relinquish or Give Up Your License or Allow it to Expire While Under Investigation or Pending Disciplinary Action

By Danielle M. Murray, J.D.

Scenario: Psychologist, licensed mental health counselor, or other mental health professional has a license in State 1 where he or she lives and practices and also in State 2. A complaint is filed with the Department of Health, Professional Board, or other licensing authority in State 1.

Rather than incur the legal expenses involved in defending against the complaint in State 1, psychologist, LMHC, or other professional moves to State 2, begins practicing there and voluntarily relinquishes his/her license in State 1.

Unfortunately, in most cases, this is a terrible mistake.

The voluntary relinquishment of the professional license in State 1, while there is a pending complaint, investigation or disciplinary action, will be treated the same as a revocation of the license for disciplinary purposes.

Following are some of the adverse consequences that will follow:

1. State 1 will maintain this […]

By The Health Law Firm|2024-03-14T10:01:50-04:00May 15, 2018|Categories: Clinical Social Worker, Intern, Marital and Family Therapist, Mental Health Counselor, Mental Health Counselor Law, Occupational Therapist, Psychology, Resident|Tags: administrative complaint, Administrative Hearing, administrative licensure investigation, board licensing complaint, defense attorney, defense lawyer, department of health, doh, Florida health care lawyer, investigation, investigator, licensure defense|Comments Off

Florida Toughens Up Drug Compounding Law for Out-of-State Pharmacies

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

A new, stricter law on Florida’s compounding pharmacy industry took effect October 1, 2014.
The new law increases the restrictions for out-of-state compounding pharmacies and outsourcing facilities that ship medications into Florida. The law also gives the Florida Board of Pharmacy and Florida Department of Health (DOH) more power to oversee and penalize these companies. Click here to read the new law.

The law was enacted to increase the standards for compounding pharmacies that create medications that are supposed to be tailored to the needs of individual patients. In an effort to prevent another nationwide outbreak of fungal meningitis, similar efforts to tighten control on compounding pharmacies have been implemented by other states across the country. Click here to read […]

By The Health Law Firm|2024-03-14T10:01:18-04:00May 15, 2018|Categories: Compounding pharmacy, Florida Board of Pharmacy, Florida Legislature|Tags: 2014 Florida legislature, compounded medications, compounding pharmacy, compounding pharmacy permit, defense attorney, defense lawyer, department of health, doh, drug recall, Florida compounding pharmacy, florida department of health, Florida legislature, Florida pharmacist, Florida pharmacy, health law firm, licensing issues, out-of-state compounding pharmacy permit, permit to ship to Florida, pharmacies, pharmacist, pharmacist attorney, pharmacist lawyer, pharmacists, pharmacy, pharmacy attorney, pharmacy compounding sterile products, the health law firm|Comments Off

The 25 Biggest Mistakes Psychologists Make After Being Notified of a Department of Health Complaint

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

The investigation of a complaint which could lead to the revocation of a psychologist’s license to practice and the assessment of tens of thousands of dollars in fines, usually starts with a simple letter from the Department of Health (DOH). This is a very serious legal matter and it should be treated as such by the psychologist who receives it. Yet, in many cases, attorneys are consulted by psychologists after the entire investigation is over, and they have attempted to represent themselves throughout the case. Often, the mistakes that have been made severely compromise an attorney’s ability to achieve a favorable result for the psychologist.

These are the 25 biggest mistakes we see in the psychology cases we are called upon to defend […]

By The Health Law Firm|2024-03-14T10:01:50-04:00May 15, 2018|Categories: Clinical Social Worker, Mental Health Counselor, Mental Health Counselor Law, Occupational Therapist, Psychology, Resident|Tags: D.O., department of health, doh, FBI investigation quality assurance, investigation, license revoked, psychologist investigation, psychology, what should a psychologist do if being investigated|Comments Off

At Board of Nursing Hearing, Each Aggravating Factor Must be Supported by “Competent Substantial Evidence” or Discipline Is reversible on Appeal

The foregoing case summary was prepared by Mary F. Smallwood, Esquire, of The Administrative Law Section of The Florida Bar.

The Department of Health, Board of Nursing (“Board”) filed charges against Fernandez for administering medication to a person who was not his patient. The facts demonstrated that Fernandez had visited a friend in the hospital and administered a drug prescribed for one of his home health care patients. After an administrative hearing, the Board found that five aggravating circumstances justified an upward departure in the penalty provided for the Board’s guidelines to license revocation.

On appeal, the court reversed. While it found support for four of the aggravating circumstances cited by the Board, it held that one of the circumstances was not supported by competent substantial evidence. Specifically, the Board had determined that Fernandez’ actions had caused damage to the patient. The court found the only support for this determination was testimony […]

By The Health Law Firm|2024-03-14T10:01:18-04:00May 15, 2018|Categories: Administrative Hearing, Board of Nursing, Discipline|Tags: administering drugs, Administrative Hearing, administrative law, aggravating circumstances, appeal, Board of Nursing, Board of Nursing hearing, BON, Competent Substantial Evidence, department of health, determination of damage to a patient, doh, home health care, license revocation, nurse damages patient, nurse discipline, nurse discipline reversed, nurse license revocation, nurse's license revoked, substantial evidence|Comments Off

Our Firm Often Represents Psychologists, Psychiatrists, Mental Health Counselors, Social Workers and Other Mental Health Professionals in Last Minute Depositions and Hearings

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

Our attorneys often receive calls from psychiatrists, mental health counselors, social workers, licensed marriage and family therapists and other mental health professionals regarding the possibility of representing them on short notice at a hearing before the Board of Medicine, Board of Psychology, or the Board of Clinical Social, Marriage and Family, and Mental Health Counseling at a deposition related to a health care matter.

Many Other Law Firms Will Not Take Short-Notice Cases.

Many law firms refuse to represent a client at a hearing unless given plenty of advance notice. We would always prefer to have sufficient time to obtain documents, review files, interview witnesses, conduct research and prepare, in order to provide our clients the best possible representation. However, we realize that in certain cases, the […]

By The Health Law Firm|2024-03-14T10:01:51-04:00May 15, 2018|Categories: Clinical Social Worker, Marital and Family Therapist, Mental Health Counselor, Occupational Therapist, Psychology|Tags: administrative law judge, administrative procedure act, administrative proceeding, ALJ, and Mental Health Counseling, board of medicine, Board of Psychology, defense attorney, defense lawyer, department of health, deposition coverage, disciplinary charges, disciplinary complaint, doh, FAC, final hearing, Florida Administrative Cods, formal hearing, health law firm, hearing representation, Informal hearing, last minute deposition coverage, legal representation, legal representation for mental health counselor, legal representation for psychiatrist, legal representation for social worker, legal representation for therapist, licensed marriage and family therapist, local deposition coverage, Marriage and Family, mental health professional, negligence lawsuit, noticed of a deposition, or the Board of Clinical Social, professional liability insurance, psychiatrist, rights for an appeal, Rules of Civil Procedure, Rules of Evidence, short notice of representation of mental health counselor, short notice representation of psychiatrist, social worker, subpoena, the health law firm|3 Comments

Overcoming License Suspension and Revocation Pending Appeal

By: Lance O. Leider, J.D.

If you are a doctor, nurse, dentist, psychologist, pharmacist, massage therapist or other licensed health professional whose license has been recently revoked or suspended, there may still be hope. Ordinarily, you must immediately stop practicing or you risk being prosecuted for unlicensed practice, a felony. Although this blog deals with Florida law, similar relief may be available in other states, too.

One of the hardest things about having a license suspended or revoked is that it immediately cuts off the licensee’s sole source of income. If you have a thriving practice, this will usually destroy any value your business has. Without income, paying your bills will be a challenge, much less the cost to fight the legal action or to appeal.

Even if you appeal the decision and win the appeal, you will be out of practice for many months, […]

By The Health Law Firm|2024-03-14T10:01:04-04:00May 15, 2018|Categories: Department of Health Investigation, Florida Board of Massage Therapy, Massage Therapy License|Tags: appeal, department of health, doh, license, license defense attorney, license revocation, license suspension, revoked, supersedeas, suspended|Comments Off

Purpose of Florida E-FORCSE Prescription Database Not for Disciplinary or Criminal Prosecution Purposes Against Physicians, Pharmacists or Other Health Professionals

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

As you are no doubt aware now, Florida has an active prescription drug monitoring program (PDMP). It is called the “Electronic-Florida Online Reporting of Controlled Substances Evaluation” or “E-FORCSE.” More often it is referred to simply as the “prescription drug database” by Florida physicians.

The Florida Legislature adopted the E-FORCSE system in Florida by Section 893.055, Florida Statutes.

Section 893.055(7)(b), Florida Statutes, States Access to Program’s Database is Limited to Program Manager.

A pharmacy, prescriber, or dispenser shall have access to information in the prescription drug monitoring program’s database which relates to a patient of that pharmacy, prescriber, or dispenser in a manner established by the department as needed for the purpose of reviewing the patient’s controlled substance prescription history. Other access to the program’s database shall […]

By The Health Law Firm|2024-03-14T10:01:19-04:00May 15, 2018|Categories: Pharmacy Law Blog|Tags: administrative complain, AG, Attorney General, cases against licensed health care professionals, charge sheet or indictment, compliant investigation, controlled substance, criminal investigation, criminal investigation of a physician, dea, DEA investigation, defense attorney, defense lawyer, dentist, dispensing controlled substances, doctor, doctor shopping, doh, drug enforcement administration, E-FORCSE, E-FORCSE data, E-FORCSE HIPAA compliant, Electronic-Florida Online Reporting Controlled Substance Evaluation, falling below the standard of care, Florida defense attorney, Florida defense lawyer, florida department of health, Florida legislature, Florida prescription drug monitoring program, health care practitioner, health care professional, health care provider, Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act, health law firm, hipaa, license investigation, Medicaid Fraud Control Unit (MFCU), PDMP, pharmacist, physician, prescriber, prescription database, prescription drug monitoring program, professional negligence, prosecution of health care professional, prosecution of physician, reporting to E-FORCSE, substandard performance, the health law firm, who can access E-FORCSE|Comments Off