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The Professional Medical Conduct Health Office of the New York State Department is the agency that issues disciplinary sanctions after investigation and trial. These can be heavy repercussions for optometrists that can include censure, loss of medical license, letter or reprimand, and probation.
We have optometrist medical license defense lawyers here at Health Care Law Associates who are dedicated to representing optometrists in disciplinary proceedings and investigations initiated by the OPMC (Office of the Professional Medical Conduct), which is a branch of the New York State Department of Health.
We boast experienced legal resources for optometrists and other medical professionals dealing with claims alleging professional negligence in New York. Our firm is widely regarded as the region’s foremost professional negligence and health care defense practices. We earned our reputation by achieving frequent favorable settlements and dismissals for our clients.
With our highly respected partners at the helm, who are recognized for their outstanding top flight legal performance, we stand out from the rest. Most of our partners have earned a place among the New York Super attorneys each year since 2007. Our knowledgeable and experienced team of advocates provides, to doctors facing accusations of optometric malpractice, comparatively cost efficient services.
We offer a broad panoply of services which includes a deep understanding of all the potential issues that can trigger an optometric negligence case, such as:
When the [professional license of an optometrist is in danger, we are available to assist. Here is some of the most important work we can do for you. There can be a range of claims against an optometrist by the OPMC, but most of the issues come under these categories.
License restoration
After having her optometric medical license revoked, an optometrist must wait for three years before she can re-apply to have the license restored to her. In addition to submitting an application and a fee of $750 optometrists reapplying for their licenses are required to send other supporting documents to the state Department of Education. This application is far from simple. A thorough understanding of the Board Regents is important long before you begin the application process. You can only have your license restored to you if the board finds a convincing and compelling reason to grant your request when they weigh it against the misconduct that caused your license to be revoked in the first place.
It is important to realize that being issued an optometrist medical license is not a citizen right, but instead, it is a privilege that the state can choose to grant or not. The license privilege can be earned and in this particular circumstance you have an arduous task to perform to demonstrate to the board all the possible causes to convince them to give you back your license to practice.
The board will diligently review all aspects in your application before deciding whether they should reinstate your license or not. A thorough evaluation will be conducted to determine whether you are genuinely remorseful about the behavior that led to the revocation of your license in the first place. Understand that implicating to the state that it illegitimately revoked your license is never a good position to argue. Your opportunity to make that argument was in the original case, which has long passed and you lost to their decision.
The board will also need to assess whether the behavior has the chance of occurring again. This is usually at issue when the original cause of license revocation was either sexual misconduct or alcohol or drug abuse. The wellbeing of patients is a priority for the board at all times. Your task will be to try to convince them that you will never make the same mistakes and actions that landed you into trouble. For them to believe that, the board will have to see that you have undergone rehabilitation efforts to be assured that you will be able to refrain from causing any further risk to the public if your license is restored.
Also, you need to convince the board that you have now accumulated the sufficient qualifications to practice as an optometric provider. This can be proven by presenting evidence that you have been staying on top of the current optometric competencies to demonstrate your ability. You will also show that you have been continuing to educate yourself in all that time that you were without your license and out of practice. Be warned, enrolling in some optometric courses a few months before submitting your case is not going to cut it.
A burden of proof is on you to convince the board that your license should be restored. Diligent preparation is necessary if you are to win your case. What is required is a supporting affidavit from five people who understand the circumstances under which your license was revoked and are willing to swear to the board that your behavior has changed since that time. Three of these witnesses must also be licensed optometrists. Indeed, surely it is clear that you should start to plan for the restoration of your optometric license almost immediately after revocation to increase your chances of success. Furnish evidence that you are serious and that you have worked to fix your mistakes. It is imperative that the board is confident that you will not fall back into the same poor conduct that brought your problems on.
Our clients include optometrists and other medical professionals in matters concerning license defense actions before other professional disciplinary agencies including the (OPMC) Office of the Professionals Medical Conduct. We do also represent hospitals and other health clinics deficiency issued statements by the Department of Health in New York State. We represent optometrists and other professionals in proceedings before the Education Department in New York State.
You are welcome to contact us to schedule a consultation with our trusted New York optometrist license defense lawyers.
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