Administrative Law: No Friend to the Licensed

"... State licensing boards are not governed by the same rules as civil courts when they conduct hearings, allow or deny admission of evidence, types of evidence, or even many times by rulings from the court of appeals. Instead they must adhere to the states Administrative Code, or Administrative Procedures Act, or similarly titled body of administrative law which is a separate and very different body of law which governs the actions of the state and its agencies. What it ALWAYS means for a licensee appearing before a license board for a hearing is; fewer rights, reduction in the protection afforded by the rights remaining, relaxed rules of evidence including the admission of hearsay (Bob told Sally and Sally sent me a text about what Bob said…perfectly fine), limited or no right to appeal to a court during the investigation and proceedings of the board until a final order is issued (which may order the revocation of your license based on an error from months, or years, ago which can only now be challenged…and with limited effect). So when the Maryland Board of Physicians called anesthesiologist Steven Bernstein before them, they did not have to follow the same rules as any civil court would in a medical malpractice case regarding determining the standard of care through expert witnesses, and they did not have to pay any attention to court rulings or statutes other than those concerning the board directly, or other administrative agency’s similar proceedings. Because the Board is a Board of Physicians, the law allows them great latitude to rely upon their own expert knowledge and  judgment in determining what is appropriate medical practice and a standard of care, for their purposes anyway. Their findings have no influence on a medical malpractice action or the determination of a standard of care in a civil court of law..." July 2010 Law Med Blog