Texas Dental Board Steps Up Enforcement Actions Against Licensees
Since the Texas State Legislature's previous legislative session, the Texas Dental Board has begun ramping up enforcement against general dentists and subspecialists such as oral surgeons and endodontists, and other medical professionals licensed under its auspices. Of particular concern is the Dental Board's increased enforcement of their rules regarding DWIs and other alcohol-related offenses. Like other medical licensing boards, the Dental Board typically does not regard alcohol-related offenses and public intoxication as the basis for disciplinary action absent special circumstances or evidence of an ongoing impairment or addiction. However, upon receiving notice that a dentist or oral surgeon has been arrested for or convicted of a second such offense, the Board will begin actively pursuing sanctions against the individual in question, often including restrictive multi-year monitoring orders. This is true regardless of the amount of time that has passed between offenses.
One step that the Texas State Board of Dental Examiners (SBDE) will often take in the case of a dentist or oral surgeon / subspecialist with multiple alcohol-or-drug related offenses is to recommend consultation with the Professional Recovery Network, or PRN. I strongly recommend not doing so without first consulting with an attorney. This is because, as I have written previously in this forum, there are significant limitations in the confidentiality protections provided to medical professionals who consult with the PRN. Not only that, but professionals seeking aid from the PRN are often not told of these limitations up front, with the result that statements that the professional believed were confidential often end up being reported to the Dental Board. This means that, by turning to the PRN for assistance, a professional may end up inadvertently handing the Dental Board statements or evidence that may be used against him or her in an eventual disciplinary proceeding. As such, it is essential for licensed dental professionals to consult with an attorney / law firm familiar with administrative law and the practices of the Texas State Board of Dental Examiners and PRN to determine the best course(s) of action.
This increase in enforcement by the SBDE has a number of ramifications for professionals licensed by the Board. First, the Board has begun aggressively pursuing harsher sanctions than in previous years, even for comparatively minor offenses. For instance, as I noted in a previous entry, in one case, the Board sought to impose a multi-year reprimand based on a comparatively minor misdemeanor for which the dentist in question was placed on deferred adjudication. Secondly, should the professional in question agree to any discipline, they will potentially be required to report it to their provider networks, malpractice insurers, other credentialing bodies or states where they hold licenses, and the Department of Public Safety and DEA.
This makes it all the more important that a professional under investigation by the Texas Dental Board consult with an experienced administrative law and state board lawyer to best protect their interests and their practice.
