Discipline Of Doctor May Be Enjoined
The Nevada Supreme Court reversed and remanded a district court’s denial of injunctive relief to a medical doctor sanctioned for allegedly showing up for surgery in a state of intoxication.
His blood alcohol tested at .06
Respondent Nevada State Board of Medical Examiners found that Dr. Tate had violated NAC 630.230(1)(c) by rendering services to a patient while under the influence of alcohol and in an impaired condition. The Board suspended Dr. Tate’s license for six months, issued a public reprimand, ordered him to complete an alcohol diversion program and pay $35,564.44 in investigation and prosecution costs and a $5,000 fine, and to complete continuing medical education on the subject of alcohol.
The court
NRS 630.356(1) grants physicians the right to judicial review of Nevada State Board of Medical Examiners final decisions, while NRS 630.356(2) simultaneously prohibits district courts from entering a stay of the Board’s decision pending judicial review. As a matter of first impression, we are asked to determine whether this prohibition violates the Nevada Constitution’s separation of powers doctrine. Because we conclude that it does, we reverse the district court’s order denying appellant injunctive relief and remand this matter for proceedings consistent with this opinion…
To bar a district court’s ability to grant injunctive relief while judicial review is pending effectively “render[s] the appeal a meaningless and merely ritualistic process,” Smothers, 672 S.W.2d at 65, as the sanctions imposed will likely have been implemented or completed before the court could judicially review the case. Such sanctions may, among other things, irreparably penalize a physician through loss of patients, income, job opportunities, and/or damage the physician’s professional reputation and standing if the court were to later overrule the Board’s decision and the sanctions imposed.
Thus
Here, Dr. Tate has been sanctioned with, among other things, fees and fines, a public reprimand, and suspension of his license for a six month period. If the district court were prohibited from staying the sanctions imposed until it can determine whether the Board’s decision was in error, Dr. Tate may be irreparably penalized thus negating the purpose of his right to judicial review. Moreover, under federal law, these sanctions must be reported to the National Practitioner Data Bank within 30 days of their implementation, 45 C.F.R. §§ 60.5 and 60.8, resulting in the Board’s decision and sanctions against Dr. Tate being recorded in a national database before the district court can review the Board’s decision. Thus, the statutory prohibition against stays would effectively “eradicate[ ] any practical reason for taking the appeal.” Smothers, 672 S.W.2d at 65.
Furthermore, we are inclined to agree with Dr. Tate that public interest militates in favor of injunctive relief when the district court deems it necessary…
(Mike Frisch)