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Thinking About Contacting the PRN or IPN Programs? Read This First!

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

Physicians, dentists, nurses, and other health professionals, accused of wrongdoing, may be referred to or receive recommendations from colleagues to refer themselves to the Professionals Resource Network (PRN) or the Intervention Project for Nurses (IPN). This is often done by someone who has little to no knowledge about these programs or what they require. An individual who does this may find himself or herself in a situation that they rapidly come to regret.

Both programs have done some wonderful things. They have saved the lives and careers of many health professionals who have issues with drugs and alcohol, or who suffer from mental illnesses. However, often a person may be accused of being an addict, alcoholic, serious substance abuser or having an uncontrolled mental illness when nothing is further from the truth. Then these programs may not be right for that individual.

Often we find that a physician may be referred to PRN if he or she is suspected of excess drinking if alcohol is smelled on that person’s breath, if the physician is suspected of using drugs, or if he/she exhibits behavior that is now being labeled as “disruptive.” To read a previous blog I have written about those accused of being “disruptive physicians,” click here.

Nurses are routinely instructed that they “must” report to IPN when there is some discrepancy in the narcotics count at a hospital or nursing home, someone makes an anonymous complaint (even a false one) about the nurse or the nurse is suspected (even wrongly) of diverting drugs. We have found that some hospitals and nursing homes routinely do this to their nurses without any consideration of whether the person is innocent.

Many health professionals are advised by their colleagues that they should falsely claim they are alcoholics or addicts to get into PRN or IPN to avoid disciplinary action against their licenses. For those afflicted with a serious substance abuse problem or a mental illness, this may be correct. However, if it is not the case, this advice is egregiously wrong.

PRN and IPN Are Not the “Easy Way Out.”

These organizations may be lifesavers for those who actually need them but may seem like punishment to those who do not. Either way, these programs are not the “easy way out” of legal problems.

For an example of one physician’s reported experiences with such a program, click here.

Although these articles are dated, we were recently contacted by a physician who disclosed a similar anecdote as reported in these articles.

If you are accused of wrongdoing, violating your practice act, or if you are threatened with being reported to the Department of Health (DOH) or your professional board, especially if you are being falsely accused, then it is much better to defend yourself and fight such charges instead of trying to “take the easy way out.”

Speak with an Attorney Immediately, at the Beginning and Prior to Making Any Decisions or Calls.

You should obtain information on the facts and alternatives immediately when accused and prior to making any such decision, calling anyone, or speaking with any investigator. Contact our firm to speak with an attorney who can provide information to you on your options.

Click here to read my prior blog on impaired practitioner programs and learn more valuable information.

You Must Carry Insurance Which Covers the Legal Fees For Defending a Complaint Against Your License.

We always recommend that all health professionals carry insurance that covers their attorney’s fees and their legal defense expenses when they are accused of an offense that may affect their licenses. Most physicians and dentists already have insurance that covers this. Nurses can buy insurance that covers this for less than ten dollars ($10) a month (note: available from Nurses Service Organization (NSO), CPH & Associates and other carriers). Other health professionals such as pharmacists, psychologists, mental health counselors, massage therapists, respiratory therapists, aids and technicians should either pay extra for such coverage on their existing policies or should buy a separate policy which covers this (note: available from Healthcare Providers Service Organization (HPSO), Lloyd’s of London and other carriers). The absolute minimum coverage you should have for this purpose is $25,000; if you don’t have this much coverage for professional license defense, purchase more.

Remember This Is My Opinion.

What I say in this blog is my opinion. There are those who may disagree with it. If so, tough! It is my experience as an attorney with more than 33 years of experience, and I’m sticking by it.

Contact Experienced Health Law Attorneys in Matters Involving PRN or IPN.

The Health Law Firm’s attorneys routinely represent physicians, dentists, nurses and other health professionals in matters involving PRN or IPN. Our attorneys also represent health providers in Department of Health investigations, before professional boards, in licensing matters, and in administrative hearings.

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 Orlando, Florida, area. www.TheHealthLawFirm.com The Health Law Firm, 1101 Douglas Ave., Altamonte Springs, FL 32714, Phone: (407) 331-6620.

KeyWords: Legal representation for impaired physicians, legal representation for Department of Health (DOH) investigations, Intervention Project for Nurses (IPN) defense attorney, Professionals Resource Network (PRN) defense legal counsel, DOH investigation defense attorney, legal representation for investigations against health care professionals, legal representation for Florida DOH investigations, Florida DOH representation, DOH complaint defense, legal representation for DOH complaint, Florida impaired practitioners program, legal representation for PRN matters, legal representation for IPN matters, legal representation for disruptive physician issues, health law defense attorney, legal representation for health care professionals, changes to Florida impaired practitioners program, legal representation for health care investigations, The Health Law Firm reviews, reviews of The Health Law Firm attorneys

“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 © 2019 The Health Law Firm. All rights reserved.

Impaired Practitioner Programs: What Happens if You’ve Been Accused of Impairment or Misconduct?

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

In an industry that revolves around helping others, physicians and other health professionals sometimes find that they are the ones being pushed toward a treatment program. Long hours, heavy workloads and stress among health care professionals can sometimes lead to unsafe, unprofessional behavior and impairment allegations.

We routinely work with physicians, nurses and other health professionals who are accused by employers, hospitals, competitors, or terminated employees of impairment due to drug or alcohol abuse, or mental impairment, of being a “disruptive physician” or of sexual boundary issues. However, not all physicians and health professionals who are referred to a health program are in actual need of rehabilitation services.

What is the Impaired Practitioners Program?

The Florida Department of Health’s (DOH) Impaired Practitioners Program (IPN), Section 456.067, Florida Statutes, is administered by the Intervention Project for Nurses or “IPN” (for nurses and nurse practitioners) and by the Professionals Resource Network or “PRN” (for physicians, dentists, pharmacists and all other health professionals). IPN is responsible for all nurses and works with and through the Florida Board of Nursing. PRN works with and through the Florida Board of Medicine, Board of Dentistry, Board of Pharmacy, and other Department of Health Professional Boards.

You Are Instructed to Report Yourself to IPN or PRN; What Now?

These types of allegations discussed above made against a physician, nurse or other health professional are extremely serious because they are usually treated by the DOH as “Priority 1” or “Fast Track” offenses. This means that the charges against the individual will usually be automatically considered for an Emergency Suspension Order (ESO) issued by the Florida Surgeon General at the request of the Department of Health. Unless a qualified, experienced health care attorney is able to immediately produce reliable documentation and evidence showing the health professional is not impaired, the Surgeon General will usually issue an ESO. Click here to read one of my prior blogs to learn more.

Even in cases where the individual may actually have committed an offense, there are a number of administrative and procedural measures that may be used to avoid a suspended license. For the innocent health professional, an experienced attorney familiar with such matters may be able to obtain additional drug testing, polygraph (lie detector) testing, medical examinations, scientific evidence, expert witnesses, evaluations by certified addictions professionals, character references, or other evidence which may help to show innocence and lack of impairment.

Call an Attorney Immediately, at the Beginning and Prior to Making Any Decisions or Calls!

If you are accused of wrongdoing, especially accusations involving drug or alcohol abuse or impairment, even if you are threatened with being reported to the DOH or your professional board, then it may be much better to defend yourself and fight such charges instead of trying to “take the easy way out.” This is especially true if you are being falsely accused. There are many problems that you can avoid by having good legal advice before you make a stupid mistake. We are often consulted and retained by clients when, after they have made the mistake of talking to the wrong people about the wrong things, they are in a situation they could have avoided.

Our firm has extensive experience in representing physicians and other professionals accused of drug abuse, alcohol impairment, mental impairment, and sexual boundary issue, as well as in dealing with the IPN and the PRN, their advantages and disadvantages, their contracts, their policies and procedures, and their requirements.

The bottom line is: if you are accused of drug impairment, alcohol impairment, drug diversion, sexual boundary issues, sexual misconduct, or of being mentally or physically impaired, immediately contact an attorney experienced with IPN and PRN and with the Board of Medicine, Board of Nursing, Board of Dentistry, Board of Pharmacy, and other professional boards. Don’t risk losing your livelihood by just taking the apparently easy way out without checking into it. There may be other options available for you, especially if you are innocent and not impaired.

To read one of my prior blogs about the recent changes to Florida’s Impaired Practitioners Program, click here.

Contact Experienced Health Law Attorneys in Matters Involving PRN or IPN.

The Health Law Firm’s attorneys routinely represent physicians, dentists, nurses and other health professionals in matters involving PRN or IPN. Our attorneys also represent health providers in Department of Health investigations, before professional boards, in licensing matters, and in administrative hearings.

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

Sources:

Masterson, Les. “Physician wellness, quality of care go hand-in-hand, analysis finds.” Healthworks Collective. (September 10, 2018). Web.

Maria Panagioti, Keith Geraghty, Judith Johnson. “Association Between Physician Burnout and Patient Safety, Professionalism, and Patient Satisfaction.” Journal of American Medical Association (JAMA). (September 4, 2018). Web.

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., Altamonte Springs, FL 32714, Phone: (407) 331-6620.

KeyWords: Legal representation for impaired physicians, legal representation for Department of Health (DOH) investigations, Intervention Project for Nurses (IPN) defense attorney, Professionals Resource Network (PRN) defense legal counsel, DOH investigation defense attorney, legal representation for investigations against health care professionals, legal representation for Florida DOH investigations, Florida DOH representation, DOH complaint defense, legal representation for DOH complaint, Florida impaired practitioners program, legal representation for PRN matters, legal representation for IPN matters, legal representation for disruptive physician issues, health law defense attorney, legal representation for health care professionals, changes to Florida impaired practitioners program, legal representation for health care investigations, The Health Law Firm reviews, reviews of The Health Law Firm Attorneys

“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 © 2019 The Health Law Firm. All rights reserved.

Law School Agrees to Drop Accreditation Suit

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

On January 16, 2019, the Summit School of Law in Arizona (Arizona Summit) settled a lawsuit against the American Bar Association (ABA) over the decision to pull the law school’s accreditation. The for-profit law school, which is in the process of closing down, agreed to dismiss the suit with prejudice.

This matter may be of interest to those involved in medical education, because of the accreditation problems faced by some medical schools and recent actions taken to revoke the accreditation of or not accept the graduate from some foreign medical schools. There are lessons to be learned from this case.

“The ABA and the council welcome the end of this dispute. We look forward to continuing to serve the best interests of law students, the public, and the profession through the ABA law school accreditation process, which has consistently been upheld by courts and has been approved by the U.S. Department of Education,” Barry Currier, managing director of the ABA section that accredits and regulates law schools, said in a statement the ABA issued.

ABA Enforcement Actions.

Arizona Summit is one of three schools that filed suit against ABA’s enforcement actions, arguing that due process rights were violated before the decision to be put on probation. All three law schools, owned by InfiLaw Corp., sued the ABA in May 2018, regarding accreditation issues. Click here to view Arizona Summit’s compliant against the ABA in full.

Requirements For Law School Accreditation.

In June 2018, ABA decided to pull accreditation for Arizona Summit, saying it had fallen short of standards on student admissions and bar passage rates. ABA requires schools to see at least 75% of students pass the bar within five years. Additionally, passage rates for first-time bar takers are required to be within 15% of the school’s average in three of five years. You can learn more about ABA’s Standards and Rules of Procedure for Approval of Law Schools here.

According to Arizona Summit’s Report for 2018, the school awarded 118 degrees that year. A total of 25 graduates took the state bar exam for the first time in July 2018, and their pass rate was 52%. A total of 98 graduates of the law school sat for that exam and the overall pass rate was 20.4%.

Therefore, the ABA pulled its accreditation stating that it had fallen short of standards on student admissions and bar passage rates. The school is scheduled to shut down for good in spring 2020.

Don’t Let Accreditation Issues Slow You Down!

We have often been contacted by medical students, resident physicians, fellows, and foreign medical graduates, when experiencing problems with their medical school or graduate medical education (GME) programs. Don’t wait until it is too late to think of consulting with an experienced healthcare attorney regarding possible solutions. Even when it may appear to be too late, it may not actually be too late to recover. Click here to read one of my prior blogs for more information on accreditation matters in graduate medical education (GME) programs.

Contact Experienced Health Law Attorneys Today.

The attorneys of The Health Law Firm provide legal representation to medical students, resident physicians, and fellows in academic disputes, disciplinary cases, and disputes with their programs, schools, or institutions. These include graduate medical education (GME) hearings, contract negotiations, conduct committee hearings, charges of irregular behavior, issues with the National Board of Medical Examiners (NBME), the United States Medical Licensing Examinations (USMLE) and the Education Commission for Foreign Medical Graduates (ECFMG), license applications, board certification applications and hearings, credential hearings, and civil and administrative litigation.

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

Sources:

Cueto, Emma. “For-Profit Ariz. Law School Drops ABA Suit Over Accreditation.” Law360. (January, 16, 2019). Web.

Ward, Stephanie. “Arizona Summit Law School agrees to drop its lawsuit against ABA.” ABA Journal. (Journal 16, 2019). Web.

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.

KeyWords: legal representation for fair hearings, fair hearings representation, fair hearing defense lawyer, legal representation for administrative hearing, administrative hearing representation, administrative hearing defense attorney, legal representation for due process cases, legal representation for clinical privileges, clinical privileges representation, clinical privileges defense lawyer, legal representation for health care investigations, legal representation for peer review hearings, peer review representation, graduate medical education (GME) hearing legal counsel, medical contract negotiations, conduct committee hearing attorney, defense of charges of irregular behavior, National Board of Medical Examiners (NBME) defense attorney, United States Medical Licensing Examination (USMLE) defense legal counsel, Education Commission for Foreign Medical Graduates (ECFMG) defense lawyer, medial license application lawyer, board certification application attorney and hearings peer review defense lawyer, legal representation for DOH investigations, legal representation for licensure defense, licensure defense attorney, legal representation for health care professionals, health law defense attorney, The Health Law Firm reviews, reviews of The Health Law Firm attorneys

“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 © 2019 The Health Law Firm. All rights reserved.

Florida Gov. Rick Scott Makes Changes to Florida Impaired Practitioners Program

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

On May 31, 2017, Florida Governor, Rick Scott, signed into law House Bill 229 (Ch. 2017-41, Laws of Florida), which made changes to the statutory basis for Florida’s impaired practitioner programs. The impaired practitioner program for nurses in Florida is the Intervention Project for Nurses (IPN), which is a for-profit corporation, The impaired practitioner program for doctors, dentists, pharmacists, optometrists, and all other licensed health professionals is the Professionals Resource Network (PRN), a non-profit corporation.

The program, as envisioned in the statute, is designed to assist health care practitioners who are impaired as a result of the misuse or abuse of alcohol or drugs, or of a mental or physical condition, which could affect the ability to practice with skill and safety.

Revisions to the Program.

The new law requires DOH to establish terms and conditions of the program by contract, provides contract terms, requires DOH to refer practitioners to consultants and revises grounds for refusing to issue or renew license, certificate, or registration in health care professions.

A significant change in the program involved a licensee’s duty to report colleagues that have or are suspected of having an impairment. The new law creates an exception to the mandatory reporting of an impairment to the DOH. The new revision will allow a licensee who knows that a person is unable to practice with reasonable skill and safety due to an impairment, to report such information to the consultant, rather than DOH. Both the core licensure statute and individual practice acts are amended to include this language.

Be sure to check Florida’s DOH website regularly for news and updates, here.

To learn more about how The Health Law Firm can help you with matters involving the DOH, click here.

If You Are Instructed to Contact IPN or PRN, Call an Attorney First.

If you are ever instructed by your employer or anyone else to report yourself to the Intervention Project for Nurses (IPN) or to the Professionals Resource Network (PRN), consult with an experienced health law attorney first. There are many problems that you can avoid by having good legal advice before you make a stupid mistake. We are often consulted and retained by clients when after they have made mistakes in talking to the wrong people about the wrong things and are in a situation they could have avoided.

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. We represent impaired physicians and other health professionals in Professional Resource Network (PRN) and disruptive physician matters.

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

“Changes to Florida Reporting for Impaired Practitioners.” Holland & Knight LLP. (June 7, 2017). Web.

Mckown, Mia. “Changes to Florida Reporting for Impaired Practitioners.” Lexology. (June 7, 2017). Web.

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 © 2017 The Health Law Firm. All rights reserved.